5 Tips to Reduce Your Back Pain
Are you aware that low back pain results in about 2.6 million E.R. visit annually amongst Americans? [1]
Most people will experience resolution of their back pain in less than or equal to 3 months, but recurrence of back pain is high. Think of it as the “common cold” of physical pain. At Thrive with Dr. C, we teach you about factors that made you susceptible to experiencing back pain, address them, and make sure that you know how to address them for yourself in the future.
5 Tips to Reduce Your Back Pain
Stay ahead of your pain based on positional tolerance. If it hurts (more) to sit >15 minutes, stand up after 10-12 minutes. A minute or two should suffice, then you can sit back down. The same is true if your pain worsens with standing or walking for a period of time. It is easier to reduce your overall level of pain if you don’t allow it increase throughout the day. Eventually, you’ll be able to sit, stand, or walk longer because your baseline level of pain will be lower.
Walk for a total of 20 minutes/day. It doesn’t have to be a single, 20-min steady state walk. If you can’t walk more than 12 minutes at a time without increased pain, it could be 2, 10-minute walks in a day, for example. Walking provides gentle mobility for the lumbar spine, “motionis lotion.”
Breathe from your diaphragm (your stomach). When we breathe using our stomachs for 2-5 minutes at a time, it causes the nervous system that combats pain to increase its function. It has an even greater effect if you can slow your breathing rate- focus on lengthening your exhales.
Don’t fall into the rut of activity avoidance. Do as much as you can that doesn’t cause increased pain. Prolonged inactivity increases muscular weakness which can actually make it easier for you to hurt yourself. Also, the more you move without pain, it decreases your brain’s subconscious level of concern about your safety and pain levels reduce. Pain is your body’s protective mechanism. If you can show your body/brain that you can do things without pain, the less it’ll feel the need to “protect” you. On the flip side, the more you ignore it, the louder pain signals get.
Assess your desk/work set up. Your feet should be flat on the floor with a small curve supported at your low back (lumbar support).
When in doubt, seek care and know that true pain resolution depends on YOUR actions. There are definitely times that medication is necessary and/or helpful, but often it is used to mask problems. The sooner you actively address your pain, the more likely it is to resolve FASTER. There are always individual factors that go into each person’s pain experience, at Thrive with Dr. C, we take a personalized approach that extends past having you do the same 3x10 exercises you can find on google. Get back to living the life you want to live.