Back pain is one of the most common ailments, suffered by almost everyone at one point or another in their lifetime. Whether it’s causing discomfort when walking, bending, lifting, twisting, getting out of a chair or turning in bed, back pain limits our movement and causes pain during day-to-day activities. Seeking advice and making the right treatment choice to relieve the pain can make a huge difference to your quality of life.
From making small lifestyle changes to visiting an MSK Chiropractor in Worthing for professional treatment, knowing how to treat lower back pain is the best step you will make.
Make sure to stay mobile
A common mistake to make when experiencing lower back pain is to stay sitting or lying in bed for long periods. Although it may feel unnatural and uncomfortable to get up and walk around, gentle exercise stretches can be a key part of how to treat lower back pain. Intense exercise may not be option but going for slow, gentle walks on a regular basis can help keep you moving and reduce the pressure felt on the lower back and spine. A longer time spent sitting still can mean the muscles around the spine can develop tension and weaken due to repetitive stress, worsening your pain.
Adjust your posture
The way you sit, stand and walk can have a big impact on your back, but knowing how to treat lower back pain through your posture and weight bearing will require effort on a daily basis to reinforce new habits. Your body is used to its current posture as this is habitual, so changing this may be challenging and require daily effort and consistency to change. Professional clinics are able to offer back supports as well as ergonomic chair and seating cushion advice which can help you.
When you are sitting, your back should be straight against a rest, your feet firmly on the floor and your head facing straight ahead; setting up your desk area accordingly should help avoid repetitive muscle stress and lower back pain. When standing, try to get used to keeping your shoulder back, feet hip distance apart and your head looking straight forward when walking.
Lay on a rolled up towel
To provide some relief and ease up the stress on the back, placing a rolled up towel underneath your pelvis when you are laying on a flat surface will help stretch the lower back spine curve and ease muscular tension. If you feel as if you are able to push your body further, loosening up your muscles with some gentle stretching or yoga can work wonders. Knowing how to treat lower back pain or where to seek advice and treatment is dependent on what you feel is best for your symptoms. Discuss how long you have had these for, what treatments you have had, how you benefited from these, your age, daily activity and other ongoing medical conditions that you already may have.
Short term relief from pain medication
Dependant on the level of pain you are dealing with, pain medication may be necessary from time to time whilst you receive chiropractic care, treatment or advice for your lower back pain. Heat patches or sprays are a popular product for back pain, providing temporary relief, but they will not cure back pain for chronic conditions.
If standard off the shelf pain medication is not providing the level of pain relief you require, than the condition may be more inflammatory. Anti-inflammatory medication may help provide relief as it contains muscle relaxants. All pain relieving medication supress the actual symptoms but do not relieve the actual underlying cause of pain which must be identified and treated to prevent the situation becoming chronic and therefore taking longer to treat.
Seek professional advice
If pain relieving medication is not relieving your symptoms and your pains are getting worse, seek medical advice. The underlying cause may be more significant and require some professional chiropractic treatment. MSK chiropractic treatment has shown some outstanding results from patients suffering with ongoing or acute lower back pain, helping improve joint mobility, alleviate nerve pain and increase flexibility, improving their quality of life to enjoy daily activities.
To establish an accurate diagnosis and treatment that is tailored to your own needs, an initial consultation and medical examination will be carried out to identify the underlying cause of your pain and identify the best treatment to help you achieve optimum health and be pain free. It is not only pain relief that Chiropractors help you with; you will benefit improved mobility, improved posture and weight bearing. You will notice that you become more relaxed as your body’s nervous system is working better, thus improving your energy levels, giving you a better quality of sleep and most importantly, improving your posture.
If you would like to speak to an experienced chiropractor and discuss how MSK-Chiropractor could help you, do not hesitate to get in touch with us or request an appointment today with our highly experienced chiropractor who has treated over 12,000 patients to date in Worthing.