Oh, My Aching Back - How To Manage Back Pain I guess that having a sore back is about as common as having dandelions in your yard. It just happens sometimes and everyone experiences it at some point. I’ve had my share of low back pain. It began when I was playing high school football and I took a knee in the right kidney during a practice. To say that it was painful is a gross understatement. While laying flat on my back for about 30 minutes, I could not even wiggle my fingers or toes without pain shooting up and down my leg and back. Fortunately, I was able to walk after practice without too much suffering. At the time, I thought I had just bruised my back. That may have been the case (or not) but it was definitely the beginning of my battle with ongoing lower back pain and sciatica pain. If I had known then what I know now, I would have visited a chiropractor for an adjustment. He might have saved me years of almost continuous pain. If you are having severe back pain, it’s very possibly caused by a pinched nerve and a chiropractor can help you. Or, if it’s something more serious like a ruptured disc, he can refer you to a surgeon. I used to be skeptical of chiropractic in general but I am now a firm believer. You could very likely get immediate relief from your pain during a brief office visit. This article is to share several tips that I’ve learned over the years to help you manage your back pain. In fact, the amount of back pain that I have today is only a small fraction of what I endured through the two decades of my 20’s and 30’s. I credit my friendly chiropractor for most of the immediate relief during my times of crisis. But, the continuing personal management of my back health has been the real key to my lasting pain relief. I believe that my back is stronger and healthier today than at anytime in my life. You can find relief too! Disclaimer: I am not a doctor or chiropractor and I can not offer medical advise. The following is simply my experience with back pain management and a summary of what has worked for me. I recommend that you discuss anything that you learn from this article with your healthcare professional. It would be very wise to rule out any serious condition such as a ruptured disc before doing any exercise. Pain And Inflammation Cycle A good place to start this discussion is to talk about one reason why your back may be hurting - inflammation. If you just worked too hard in the yard and you have some sore muscles, this article is not primarily directed toward you. You will be fine in a few days. This article is for those who suffer from chronic back pain. If you are a prisoner to chronic pain, you need to understand how inflammation and pain reinforce each other. It does not matter which came first – the pain or the inflammation. But, once either is present, they set up a viscous cycle. Pain causes inflammation - the inflammation causes pressure on the nerves and more pain – which causes more inflammation…. Inflammation is your body’s natural response to an injury and it’s not all bad. However, if it becomes chronic, then you have problems. The first key to relief is to break the cycle. Doctors will sometimes use pain medicine to break the cycle. Sometimes they will use anti-inflammatory meds. Sometime muscle relaxers will do the trick. Whichever way you go after the problem, the goal is to stop the pain by breaking the never-ending cycle. Let’s take a moment to look at the pharmaceutical options to breaking the cycle. 1) Pain killers – these are effective but most are addictive. Over-the- counter products like ibuprofen and acetaminophen are not addictive but they have two major limitations. First, they should not be used daily for long periods as they are hard on your body. Also, they are usually not strong enough to give real relief to this type of pain. Discuss pain management with your doctor but only plan on using prescription painkillers for a very short time. Quite frankly, I can’t take most pain medicines because they either make me drowsy or I feel like I have ants crawling all over me. I count that as a blessing so that I’ll never be at risk of becoming addicted to them. Clearly, I believe that prescription pain medication should be your last option. 2) Anti-inflammatory drugs – this is a safer option than pain medication. Before you go the route of prescription anti-inflammatory drugs, you might try ibuprofen as it is not only an analgesic (for pain) but it’s also an mild anti-inflammatory and it might help. Again, this is only a short term fix. In addition to NSAID’s like ibuprofen, there are other pharmaceuticals that can interrupt inflammation by other methods. Corticosteroids like prednisone, COX-2 inhibitors like Vioxx and Celebrex, and antihistamines each shut down different inflammatory mechanisms. However, they also present risks with long-term use and some have been removed from the market because of serious side effects. Before you go this direction, I strongly recommend trying Omega-3 supplements to reduce inflammation. Chronic inflammation can cause much more damage that just causing you back pain. I recommend that you read my article on Inflammation and Chronic Disease for more details on using Omega-3’s to vastly improve your health. Not only can they help with chronic pain, they can work wonders for your overall health. 3) Muscle Relaxers – this is what did it for me. As I mentioned before, I can’t make any medical diagnosis or give medical advice, but this is the one class of drugs that worked miracles for me. My doctor prescribed Flexeril (cyclobenzaprine) and it did the trick. My back relaxed enough that it was able to heal. When I used cyclobenzaprine, I only needed it for 1 day at a time. That was enough to get me on the road to recovery. Actually, it’s a good thing that only one day was enough because I can’t function normally when taking this drug. It turned me into a puddle of Jello and I just wanted to sleep. But it fixed the back pain! It allowed the acute pain to subside enough that I could get things back in order. When the next painful event got my back out of whack again, one more muscle relaxer was all that it would take to get me back onto the road to recovery. And, as time went on, the events of my back going out became less and less frequent. Tricks Of The Trade The drugs mentioned above are only stepping stones to real recovery. When you hurt so bad that nothing else matters, you need some immediate help to get you on the path to healing. But, don’t think that the temporary relief from pain is the same as your back being healthy. We will get to making your back healthy in just a moment but I first want to share another method of relief when you’re in a lot of pain. This primarily works for lower back pain. If you have neck pain or a problem in the middle of your back, this probably will not help. Here is the trick: Lie on your back on the floor with your calves and feet up on your couch. Then scoot your rear as close to the couch as possible. Your bottom should be touching the front of the couch. What this does is it relieves all of the pressure on your lower back. If the pain makes the muscles in your back knot up into a ball, this will give some relief and let you relax. However, it takes a while and as soon as you move out of this position the pain will come back. I spent many hours laying on the floor watching TV from this position because it was the only thing that helped me short of drugs or a chiropractor. Give it a try and you should get some temporary relief. One other trick that you need to try is to use a leg pillow at night. This will greatly reduce the stress on your lower back and pelvis. Here’s how you use it. When lying on your back, put the pillow under your knees or calves. Experiment with the exact position of the pillow to see what gives you the best results. Then, when laying on your side, put the pillow between your knees. This too will take some pressure off your lower back. If you’ve never tried using a leg pillow, it might sound a little funny. But, give it a try and you will be amazed at how much it helps. Self-Adjustment As much as I admire, respect and recommend a good chiropractor, you may not always need to make an office visit. I learned how to “crack” my own back and do an adjustment on myself. It has been a key to my recovery to be able to self-adjust as often as necessary. First, there are 3 regions of the back. At the neck are the cervical vertebrae. Below them is the thoracic region and at the bottom are the lumbar vertebrae. I’ve discovered ways to self-adjust all 3 regions but I’m only going to discuss the lumbar region in this article. The reasons are that the lower back seems to be where most people have problems and also because I feel that it is the safest method. I don’t want to describe something that someone might copy to hurt themselves. To get my lower back to pop, I lie down on my back on a bed. This technique has never worked for me when laying on a floor. You will see why in a moment. It’s also necessary to be in shorts or loose fitting clothes. When I’m wearing jeans, I find that they are too restrictive and I do not have the range of motion that I need. First, I stretch for a couple of minutes. I lift one leg straight up as far as possible to get a good stretch on my hamstring and glutes. I hold my leg with my hands and gently pull back and hold. Then, after about a minute, I stretch the other leg in the same way. When I feel loose, I’m ready to proceed. I never know which side will pop. It’s a 50/50 chance so I’m going to describe how I do the right leg. With my left leg flat on the bed, I raise my right leg up at a 90 degree angle pointed toward the ceiling just like when I was stretching. I consciously keep both shoulders pinned to the bed and swing my right leg to the left. Doing so, I twist my torso as much as possible and my foot actually goes below the level of my body over the edge of the bed. That’s why this does not work on the floor. If I do it right and this is the side that is going to pop, I’m rewarded by a *pop* and I feel immediate relief from the pain. I find that it’s important to keep my right foot as far up toward my left shoulder as possible. In reality, my right foot is about even with my waist when I swing it over the left side of the bed. If my foot is too much lower, say near my left knee, I do not feel enough torque on my body. If my back does not pop - or even if it does - I repeat the process on the other side. I place both legs flat on the bed again, raise my left leg and repeat the whole process on the other side by dropping my left leg off the right side of the bed. I’m sure to keep my shoulders on the bed as much as possible. Twisting the torso is the whole purpose. As I do this, I find that it’s natural to hold my breath and I have to remind myself to relax and breath. Also, whether I get a *pop* from my back or not, I always hold the extended position with my leg thrown over to the side for a while because it’s a great stretch. In fact, I often have to do both sides a couple of times. The first time stretches me out and the second time I often get my back to pop. And, if I did not emphasize it enough, you must relax. I always find that I’ m way too tense when my body is fully torqued. It takes a conscious and purposeful effort to make my back relax. About half the time, it’s only after I make my muscles relax that I get the *pop* and that wonderful relief. That’s it. And, like I said, be very careful and don’t hurt yourself. Exercise Is The Key To Health Once I got rid of the pain, I wanted to keep it from coming back. The best way to do this is to strengthen some key muscles. Of course, it took me a long time to figure this out and I had to pop my back over and over again to keep it in line. After starting these back exercises, I discovered that I required an adjustment less and less frequently and I think that adding the back exercises that I’m going to describe was a key to full recovery. There are 2 simple exercises that I’ve been doing that really help me. And they only take a few minutes a day. To do the first exercise, lie flat on your back with the bottom of both feet on the floor. Your knees should be bent at a 90 degree angle. The first step is to raise your waist up so that your body makes a straight line from your shoulders to your knees. You will have to push your waist up further that you might think to get a straight line. Hold this position for about 10- 30 seconds and then relax. Repeat a few more times. That’s it. I suggest having someone else help with your posture at first to be sure that your back is straight. After you get good at this exercise, there is a modification that makes it work your muscles a lot harder. When you have your waist raised up, lift one foot off the ground and point it straight out to make a straight line with your back. Hold that position for a few seconds and then switch legs. Don’t try this modification to the exercise unless your back is feeling good. It could cause a lot of pain if your back is out of alignment. What you should feel with this exercise is not only your abs contracting but also your glutes and lower back muscles. The glutes are critical to keep your pelvis tilt properly aligned. (That’s a good topic to discuss with your chiropractor.) The lower back muscles are obviously important to the overall health of your back. To do the second exercise, roll over on your stomach after you finish the first exercise. All you are going to do is to hold your body off the floor supported only by your toes and your elbows. It’s kind of like holding the starting position for a pushup but you are on your elbows. Keep your back as level as possible and don’t let your waist go too high or too low. This exercise is called a plank and it’s awesome! So simple but it really makes a difference. Conclusion Backaches are no fun but you do not have to live in pain. That is unless you are unfortunate enough to need back surgery. Please check with your medical professional before doing any exercises or stretching. Be smart and be safe. If you can manage the acute pain of back problems, that will allow you to work on strengthening your back. Light exercise can go a long way toward maintaining your health and preventing pain. Trust me, it’s worth 2 or 3 minutes a day to help prevent that kind of pain. Don’t forget that chronic inflammation is your enemy. Even at a low level that you don’t even notice, it will damage your health in many ways over time. Please read my article on inflammation and put out the fires of inflammation today. Best wishes for good health and a life without back pain. =================================================================== March 12, 2010 Update - I just ran across the video below that demonstrates one of the exercises that I described. The first exercise that they call "double leg hip lifts" is the one I use. It is so much easier to understand when you see it versus reading a description. Check it out! These exercises made a huge difference for me. And, it only takes about 2 minutes per day. Related Articles Self-Care for Back Pain When it comes to back pain, your first thoughts may be to take over the counter pain medication and rest whenever possible. Two bad options. Relief From Muscle Adhesions Adhesions are essentially scar tissue that naturally develops in your body after any type of trauma. They can also be responsible for a wide range of issues from pelvic pain to infertility. Six Tricks To Double Your Calorie Burn A plateau is a lovely thing when you get to it after hiking all day. It's not when describing your fitness efforts! |
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| Before I go on to describe how I do this, I need to make a clear disclaimer. If you have any back pain, be sure to get an x-ray or other exam to determine if you have any spinal problems such as a ruptured disc, cracked vertebra, etc. anything that I describe here as it could do very serious damage. I only popped my own back because I was sure that it was just out of alignment. |
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