Manage Your Back Pain Without Opiate Painkillers

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While opiates are effective in relieving back pain, they are also highly addictive, and should only be used sporadically when pain becomes unmanageable. Depending on the nature of your back pain, there are various alternative methods for relieving pain, lessening the frequency and intensity of occurrences, and avoiding minor incidences altogether.

Avoiding strained back muscles

Many people have experienced episodes of back pain from muscle strains. Although the pain may be breathtaking when you move in a certain direction, it is temporary and usually disappears after a few days rest.

This type of back pain occurs when back muscles are placed under unusual stress, whether from improper lifting, poor posture, or a sudden twisting of the lower back. The strain may not be readily apparent at the time of injury, but may manifest itself the next day in a seemingly innocuous bending of the back.

Rest and a heating pad are usually enough to allow strained muscles to heal within a few days. Never lie atop a heating pad, or you risk falling asleep and burning you skin, and never use it for more than twenty minute intervals.

Awareness of the causes is the key to preventing this type of back pain. 

  • Lifting should always be done with the legs, not the back.
  • Turn your feet, not your waist, when carrying a heavy object.
  • Maintain an erect posture when sitting, and get up to walk in frequent intervals.

Dealing with back problems

If you have frequent back pain, you must be proactive in minimizing the frequency of occurrences. Strengthening your core muscles, which are the deep abdominal muscles that support the spine, will help to prevent back injuries.

If you participate in activities that place unusual stress on the spine, chiropractic adjustment will help to align the spinal vertebra. Misaligned vertebra can irritate spinal nerves and cause back pain or sciatica, which is a condition that causes pain in the lower body, and is caused by irritation of the sciatic nerve that runs from the lower spine to the feet.

Frequent back problems will require additional mindfulness of actions that create stress in the lower back. You can avoid stress to this region by simply placing a hand on one knee to support your weight as you bend over.

Sticking one leg out behind you as you bend over will also alleviate stress to compromised back muscles. Watch pro golfers as they bend to retrieve a ball to observe this maneuver.

Relieving chronic back pain

Chronic pain must be attacked from many angles. Chiropractic care will help to keep the spine in proper alignment, while non-narcotic anti-inflammatory drugs will help to reduce inflammation.

Back muscles can be strengthened by practicing yoga or similar low impact activities. Emphasis on stress reduction and posture in yoga can also provide benefits.

While rest is beneficial for episodes of severe pain, victims should resume some sort of activity as soon as possible to avoid muscle stiffness and additional pain. Low impact exercise such as indoor cycling stimulates healing and releases endorphins, which mimic the effects of opiates in relieving pain, relieving stress, and creating a feeling of well being.

Awareness and action will alleviate back pain without the risk of opiate dependence and physical and mental side effects associated with drug addiction.  Talk to a chiropractor, like Gerleman Chiropractic Office, for more help.

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14 April 2016

Getting Serious About Your Back Pain

Do you remember the first day you woke up with back pain? If you are like most folks, you probably tried to write off the problem until you realized that the issue was impacting your mobility. Back pain is serious, but not everyone takes the issue seriously at first. Not only can a little back spasm make it hard to shower, walk, or even sit comfortably, but back pain can also be a symptom of a deeper problem. The goal of my blog is to educate the public about back pain, so that you know how to tell when you are really in trouble.