Stop smoking. Smokers have as much as a thirty percent greater chance of developing back pain than non-smokers. Smoking decreases blood circulation throughout your body while also constricting the blood vessels, and that prevents the healthy nutrients from traveling to your discs and lower spine. When this happens, they become brittle and more susceptible to injury.
Alternate heat and cool packs to relieve the painful areas in your back. You can reduce both pain and inflammation using ice packs. Heat works to relax your muscles and increase blood flow to promote healing. Take a warm bath, and use a heating pad or an electric blanket for heat.
You can protect your back by taking short walks during your breaks while you are at work. An accumulation of compression on the muscles and discs in your back can be avoided by standing and stretching your arms and legs, thereby exercising muscles that have been dormant.
Proper lifting techniques should always be used for heavy lifting, so always lift by bending your knees and not your back. Straining your back while lifting can cause serious injury. Bend your knees while lifting and pick up the item as close to the body as you can; this allows your core muscles to engage in the lift.
It is a mistake to disregard pain in your back. A lot of people ignore the pain signals from their bodies entirely. They sometimes even attempt to just ignore their back pain. When you move a lot, you can actually make your pain worse. You need to rest so that the pain can ease up a bit.
When it is necessary to remain in a particular spot for a given period, such as at a play or on a train, try to keep your legs crossed. By crossing your legs, you use your back muscles. This keeps them active. Alternate the direction of your leg crosses to utilize both sets of muscles on the left and right sides.
As you can see, it is important to understand what is really causing back pain and the best ways you can help yourself cope with it. Use the information you have gotten from this article to make informed decisions about how you should handle you or your loved one’s back pain.