Back pain will most likely leave all of us in a state of discomfort at some point in our lives, research shows it will affect almost all of us. We see a lot of cases of back pain here at The Mayfair Clinic. Now, while it is important that you see a professional about your back pain, there are some home remedies that can provide some relief from pain in the back. However, we strongly advise that you come to us before trying any of the strategies below as if there is a more serious cause these won’t be enough. Your back pain may get better with these at-home treatments, however, they will not treat the underlying condition causing your back pain if you have an deeper condition or injury.
The back pain treatments below are intended to be used for minor muscles strains and things of that nature. If the condition causing your back pain is more severe, you may end up making the condition worse and being in more pain. With that said, here are some treatments for back pain that you can do at home to help with minor back issues.
As a “rule of thumb” if things don’t show signs of resolving within the week, get in touch.
How to relieve back pain at home
Keep moving
Your spine is meant to move, it loves to move. In fact, without movement, your spine can lock and increase the pain in your back, not to mention degenerate earlier. For many years, the treatment for minor back pain was to lay on a hard surface, however, nowadays, you are encouraged to keep moving. Try to keep doing your normal routine. Short walks, doing non strenuous house chores, keeping active. There’s no need to run a marathon with a sore back but keeping to your normal routine can help keep your back mobile and stop the pain.
More importantly keeping mobile prevents excess swelling and inflammation building up, one of the worst things is to sit down in your favourite chair for 5 hours. This approach will only help things seize up more.
Chill out
Ice is one of the best things for back pain. It reduces inflammation, relaxes the muscles and numbs the pain. It is perfect for use with back pain because it has no side-effects, unlike painkillers. For the first 48 hours of back pain, use ice instead of heat. Heat can cause more inflammation and doesn’t mask the pain. After 48 hours, you can use heat, but to start with keep it ice, ice baby!
Get stretchy
Try your best not to sit in a chair all day long. No matter how much you try to support your back while you’re sitting down, you’ll still find that you have a bad back at the end of the day if you have sat from dawn to dusk. Instead, get up and have a stretch every 20 minutes or so. Bend your back backwards to counteract the hunching over you’ve been doing since you sat down. Also, find some time to stretch your legs too. Stretching your legs will also stretch your back and mean that you are one step closer to becoming a gymnast, which is pretty cool.
If your back is stiff and tight it only serves to make things more difficult in the long run as the joints in your back will remain stiff and not as healthy as they should be.
Keep strong
Once this episode of back pain has receded, you can help to prevent further episodes by exercising the muscles that support your lower back. These muscles help with your posture and the alignment of your spine, so they are pretty crucial when it comes to life in general, not just preventing back pain. Having strong pelvic, hip and abdominal muscles gives you better back support and decreases your chances of having to come and see us in the future with a more serious case of back pain.
Don’t forget that its the muscles around your whole “back”! This includes your lower back muscles, your buttocks, your tummy and side muscles as well. These act like a corset to protect your back in all directions!
Beware of your posture
We have all had health and safety training at some point in our careers and the words “lift with your knees, not your back” always come back to us just after we have put our back out lifting something. The correct posture when lifting something is vital, never bend from your waist, instead, bend from the knees like the health and safety man said the last time! Also, never slump, slumping makes it difficult for your back to support your weight, plus it gives your boss the impression that you don’t care, which is almost as bad as back pain!
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Be ergonomic
One common cause of minor back pain is sitting down all day. I’m sure you know this if you work in an office. This can be a big problem if sitting at a desk is a big part of your job. However, try and design your workspace as ergonomically as possible. Design it so that you don’t have to hunch forward to see your computer, make sure you don’t have to stretch to reach your mouse and use a chair that supports your lower back while allowing your feet to stay planted. This will not only help with your current back pain, it will also help to prevent future episodes of back pain too.
Use painkillers
Painkillers should never be used as a long-term solution to any problem. However, if you have back pain, use painkillers to help you in the short term. Some of the other treatments mentioned here take a while to work so in the meantime, use painkillers to help you cope if absolutely necessary. Once the other treatments begin to work, stop taking the painkillers to avoid any long-lasting side-effects and addiction.
Wear low heels
I have some bad news for any high-heeled wearers out there. Wearing high-heels is a very common cause of back pain. We all know that high-heels make certain things look great, but they do a lot of damage to your back because they throw off your posture. Until your back pain has gone, stick to low heels otherwise your minor back pain could turn into something more serious, and you’ll have to come and see us.
We hope these tips about minor back pain have been useful. If you think that your back condition is more serious and would like our help diagnosing it, please use the contact options below to get in touch. Or if you’d like to find out more about common conditions that affect the back that we can treat here at The Mayfair Clinic, please explore our website further. We have plenty of information on here about back conditions that could be causing your back pain, and we offer the treatments to get you back on your feet.
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