Back pain plagues a huge portion of our society. It can happen to people at random times throughout the day and completely stop them in their tracks. Back pain can also turn into a chronic injury if not treated over time. Fortunately, people are becoming more innovative and creative when thinking of solutions to decreasing back pain. There are healthcare professionals that help people get rid of lower back pain within a few minutes of treatment. Additionally, there are wellness practices that you can add to your routine while at home. If you have battled back pain in the past, this guide will help you flip the script when facing aches, strains, and injuries again.
Here are 3 practical tips for decreasing back pain and enabling you to live life feeling good.
1. Visit a Chiropractor
Chiropractors are licensed doctors that help people deal with and treat troublesome back pain. Whether you are experiencing lower or upper back pain, chiropractic care can typically help you experience relief. There are a variety of chiropractic techniques that help people experience back pain relief. For example, John Amaral is a chiropractor that uses a gentle force technique that harnesses energy to help unwind stored tension throughout the body. Other chiropractors use manual adjustments to help people get relief from back injuries. It’s not uncommon for chiropractors to use different straps, drop tables, or other adjusting devices to help realign a patient’s back.
Consistency is key when it comes to receiving chiropractic care. Chiropractors don’t simply slap a band-aid on your backache. Instead, they work with the entire body to uncover the root cause of your pain. Although you can experience immediate back pain relief from one chiropractic adjustment, it’s helpful to stay consistent with receiving this care. Similar to going to the gym: can you expect to make huge progress from only going once? Not usually. In addition to helping you recover from back pain, seeing a chiropractor can also help you prevent future injuries from occurring. The more aligned your spine and back are, the less likely injuries are to occur. You deserve to feel strong and healthy all of the time. Consistent backaches don’t have to become part of your ‘story’. Break that limiting belief and start feeling better by seeing a chiropractor.
2. Stretch and Exercise
Have you ever woken up feeling tight? If your muscles and joints take a while to warm up, consider stretching first thing in the morning. This helps to activate your muscles throughout your body (and back), which can decrease the tightness and discomfort that you wake up with. Stretching is completely free to perform in the comfort of your own home. You can follow along with online videos and tutorials or contact a local wellness clinic for guidance on how to loosen up your body. Many people struggle with back pain first thing in the mornings. By adding stretching to your morning routine, you empower your joints to wake up and warm up. This will help power you throughout your day and decrease the lingering back pain that you wake up with.
Exercise is another effective way to decrease back pain. Of course, if you’re suffering from a major back injury, consult with a healthcare professional on how to approach exercising at the gym. Fortunately, there are a variety of different exercise routines that you can perform that are considered lighter. For example, restorative yoga is a type of yoga practice that helps people restore strength to parts of their body that need more support. This is a form of exercise that enables people to start slow if they’re dealing with things like back pain. The more that you can keep the surrounding parts of your body strong that are close by to an injury, the more support you will provide that area. This can ultimately help the injury heal faster, depending on the exact type of injury.
3. Massage
Have you ever experienced a painful muscle knot in your back? Getting a massage is a fast and direct way to experience pain relief from a knot in your back. Injuries can heal in different ways over time. Unfortunately, scar tissue and muscle knots can build up around a past injury, leaving you less flexible and in pain. Consider getting a massage to work out any lingering muscle knots that occurred during the healing process. Many people aren’t aware that they have muscle knots until they see a massage therapist. Certain ones can be smaller than others but still have a negative effect on your mobility and functionality.
Getting consistent massages can also be used to prevent future back injuries. For example, many professional athletes receive massages after long games. This helps speed up the recovery time for their muscles, enabling them to perform well when there are shorter gaps in between games. Massages can uncover additional injuries that you didn’t necessarily know that you had. It’s easy for many of us to brush a small ache off as ‘not a big deal’. Unfortunately, pushing through small aches and pains can do more harm long-term if the injury becomes worse. It’s important to treat things as they happen. You only have one body in this life. Treat it as you would a nice vehicle! Take it in for tune-ups (wellness services) so that it will last longer.
Treating Back Pain with Different Wellness Practices
Back pain can sneak into our lives as small, minor aches that don’t seem like a huge deal. Over time, backaches can turn into chronic injuries if not treated. Fortunately, there are a variety of wellness practices that people add to their routines when suffering from back pain. There are certain ones that you can perform for free, from the comfort of your own household. Others require going into a wellness clinic and seeing a specialist. Is there a magic bullet that fixes every single type of backache? Not quite. Aligning your emotions with true desires is important to manifesting things in life. Do a scan of any potential emotional blocks that can be contributed to how you feel when trying to heal from back injuries.
That’s why it’s important to diversify your self-care and wellness routines. Our bodies are complicated, and each one is different from the next. Get multiple opinions and try different solutions when trying to overcome something like back pain. Talk to a local wellness clinic to find out all the information possible about your particular injury. That will provide direction and clarity on what to do next. Injuries can linger and not heal properly even though most of the discomfort has subsided. If this happens to you, treat that discomfort as a full-blown injury and consider visiting your local wellness center. This will help you bring your body back to baseline and ultimately feel better than ever before.