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Alleviate Low Back Pain in Two Steps
Tags: back pain exercises, low back pain, natural pain relief, pain management, pain relief, pain treatment, physical therapist Prescott, physical therapists Prescott, Prescott physical therapy
Staying active reduces healing time
If you have low back pain, you naturally want to know why. People often focus on the tissue at fault: the disc, a muscle, a joint, a nerve, etc. While it doesn’t hurt to have a general idea of what tissue may be the pain generator, it’s not especially essential in determining how quickly you get better or if you improve. The truth is you may have back pain that is being caused by a muscle, joint, nerve, disc, or any combination of all these tissues!
A physical therapist or physician will be able to give you a good idea of what the primary pain generator likely is, but how does this shape the direction of treatment? Unless you have leg pain and numbness that travels below the knee and you are unable to make that pain decrease or disappear, it doesn’t! The truth is over 90% of low back pain is referred to as non-specific. This means there is no exact diagnosis that can be given to explain the pain.
What does this mean to you, the patient? It means that you should not focus on what tissue is causing the pain but instead focus on why that tissue is causing pain. If you injured your back while lifting something heavy or while playing sports, the cause of your back pain is obvious.
With low back pain this is usually not the case, though; most of the time people have low back pain that they notice intermittently, and they can’t point to any specific injury that caused it. Over time the pain becomes more frequent and more severe until they seek treatment. If this describes your situation, there are two very important things you MUST do if you want to be pain-free. They are simple, but if not done, a full resolution of symptoms is unlikely. Two simple things – simple, not easy. There is a difference.
Alleviate low back pain in two steps.
1. Determine what intensifies your back pain. This could be as simple as sitting more than twenty minutes, prolonged driving, bending forward, twisting, whatever. It’s specific to your condition. It may be one thing or twenty. Figure out what these are; write them down. Don’t quit doing them; that’s usually not a practical option. You may think, “How can I not sit? I have a desk job.” My goal is to show you how to continue your everyday activities without the pain.
Determine how long it takes for your back pain to increase; say it’s thirty minutes of continuous sitting. Get up out of your chair every twenty minutes, and stand up for thirty seconds. See if you notice an improvement. It may sound too simple, but give it a try. You interrupt the regular sequence and prevent the pain from starting by making an unexpected movement before the discomfort would normally begin.
In short, figure out what is causing the pain and modify your positioning, behavior, movement patterns, time spent in a certain position, so it doesn’t hurt. Just try it.
2. Move in ways that DO NOT increase pain. If bending forward hurts but bending backwards doesn’t, stand up and bend backwards thirty times. Move as much as you possibly can if it DOES NOT increase your back pain.
If walking does not cause pain but sitting does, quit sitting 8 hours a day and walk 30 minutes every day! That’s it.
There are a hundred excuses of why you can’t do these two simple things. Your health is more important than some of the activities that are preventing you from focusing on it. Make your well being a priority in your life; you will eventually have more quality time to spend on those other interests.
If you want to be pain-free, do these two things for three weeks. If your back pain is not improved by 50% or alleviated completely, you need to consult with a medical practitioner who regularly treats patients with back pain or come back to this site and learn to treat yourself with the free, evidence-based information that works for patients I treat every day.