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Non-Surgical Ways to Treat Back Pain
Back pain is one of the most common reasons to visit health care providers in America and the world. It causes more cases of disability than any other health condition. Back conditions can decrease your sense of well being and interfere with day-to-day activities, like walking. It is important to treat back pain to improve the quality of life and preserve overall health welfare.
Below are 8 effective ways to treat and relieve back pain.
If you suffer from mild back pain you can try to take OTC pain medications to relieve pain. OTC medications that usually help relieve pain include nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and acetaminophen. Both these medications have certain side effects and contraindications. Not everyone can take them. For this reason, it is recommended to consult your general doctor before taking pain-relieving medications.
If your back pain is severe enough that OTC medications cannot cope with it, you may require stronger medications. Everything that is stronger than over-the-counter medications always requires a prescription from a doctor. Let your doctor know about any other medications you take to avoid interactions. You need to be careful with stringer pain medications and opioids because they can cause dependence and have serious side effects.
Ice and heat therapy can relieve back pain, swelling, and inflammation. Applying hot compresses increases the blood flow to the affected area, relaxes muscles, and boosts self-healing properties. If you don’t have a heating pad, you can take a hot bath or shower. It will have the same beneficial effect. A cold compress can inhibit the inflammatory process and relieve pain. You just need to wrap a pack of frozen vegetables in the towel and apply it to the painful area.
Even if you don’t have depression, your doctor may suggest antidepressants as a part of chronic low back pain treatment. Antidepressants can affect the chemicals in your body that transfer pain signals to your brain. This helps relieve pain and discomfort associated with chronic back pain. It is also recommended to take antidepressants because they prevent depression and mood disorders associated with chronic pains.
If other methods don’t help you relieve back pain, your doctor may recommend lumbar steroid injections. This is one of the most powerful options for nonsurgical treatment of back pain. It is often used for the treatment of conditions like sciatica, disc degenerations, spinal stenosis, and pinched nerves. Steroid injections help relieve inflammation, improve mobility of the lower back, and improve the effectiveness of other treatments like physical therapy.
Physical therapy is an effective way to treat back pain and improve overall health. A physical therapist can teach you how to maintain good posture and keep your spine in proper alignment when sitting, standing, and walking. A therapist can show you special sets of strengthening and stretching exercises that can help support your back health. Strong and flexible core muscles are key to prevent back problems in the future and treat existing ones.
Massages can help promote blood flow, relax muscles, and improve flexibility. All of these are beneficial in terms of back pain treatment. For people with chronic back pain, massages can help maintain remission for up to 10 weeks. Your doctor can also recommend chiropractic treatment. This is a type of spinal manipulation that works by gently realigning joints and tendons in your back. Chiropractic treatment helps improve structural problems of the spine.
This option for back pain treatment is often used when other treatments have failed. This procedure involves stimulating your nerves with low-level electrical signals. This helps block pain signals from the aching area to your brain. Along with electrical nerve stimulation, your doctor may suggest acupuncture or biofeedback. Biofeedback trains your brain to control your response to pain and can reduce its intensity by 30 percent.
