In a perfect world, when back pain develops, you’d be able to treat the problem successfully without needing to see a doctor. For certain types of back problems, you have the means to successfully treat the injury at home, so long as you know the best ways to treat the problem. Unfortunately, many people end up following less-than-ideal treatment methods that not only fail to resolve pain, but can actually serve to exacerbate the problem. In today’s blog, we take a closer look at some of the best and worst ways to treat back pain at home.
Caring For Your Back Pain At Home
It begs mentioning that the following tips should only be considered general advice and not be taken as a specific course of action for any and all back injuries. For many mild forms of back pain, the following tips will prove helpful, but they could end up making pain worse if you mistakenly believe you’re dealing with one condition when you’re actually dealing with something else. So while this general advice could prove helpful, for the best individualized advice tailored to your specific situation, consult with a specialist who can see you in person.
With that said, many minor or mild forms of back pain tend to respond well to these types of treatment:
- Exercise/Stretching – We’re not saying that you should go out and run three miles if you tweaked your back yesterday, but oftentimes exercise, stretching and movement are helpful for mild back injuries. Rest may be best in the immediate short-term (24-48 hours), but after that, careful movements can actually help to better promote healing than rest alone. Be smart about your exercise and stretching routines after a back injury and never push yourself physically if things are painful or uncomfortable, but know that controlled activity tends to help injuries heal better than rest alone.
- Healthy Lifestyle Choices – You want to provide your spine with an ideal healing environment, and that happens by making smart lifestyle choices in other areas of your life. Make good dietary choices and provide your body with a range of vitamins and nutrients that it needs for optimal function, stay hydrated so that blood can circulate to different structures more easily, and get a healthy amount of restful sleep each night so that your body can recover from the stress of each day. Develop good eating and sleeping habits, and your spine won’t be stressed by outside activities while it’s focused on healing.
- Physical Therapy – Similar to exercise, physical therapy is an active treatment technique that helps to strengthen and stabilize your spine. Not only does this help your back heal from injury, but it better prepares it to handle future stress, making another injury less likely. Dive into a simple physical therapy routine at home, and you may be able to avoid coming into the doctor’s office. Just be sure you know what you’re dealing with so that you can pursue the right PT exercises.
Conversely, consider avoiding some of these common treatments if you’re hoping to care for your spine pain without leaving home:
- Prolonged Rest – As we mentioned above, prolonged rest is rarely the best thing you can do for your spine. Even if you’re not taking on a ton of physical activity, just getting out of bed and walking around can help to circulate blood and take pressure off some areas of your body that may be handling static pressure when you’re seated or lying down. Try to add a little more physical activity to your daily routine if you’re trying to overcome a minor or mild back injury.
- Medications – Medications can be helpful in the short-term, but you don’t want to lean on them as a long-term solution for back pain. Over time, these medications will become less effective, and they can also cause other health problems when taken on a long-term basis. Medications can absolutely be helpful in the short-term by making it easier for you to pursue active treatment options, but don’t just use them to drown out pain without pairing them with some more effective treatments.
- Business As Usual – Finally, some people think that if they just try to power through the discomfort that eventually pain will subside or they won’t notice it as much. One of the worst things you can do for your spine when a problem develops is to go about your day as is, because odds are your daily activities contributed to the issue. Poor posture or too much physical activity can make mild pain much worse, so don’t just try to ignore a spinal problem. Take a little time off and actively treat a problem so that it resolves sooner.
If you keep these tips in mind and avoid some of the more common treatment mistakes, we’re confident that you may be able to treat your back pain at home. But if you want professional assistance or individualized advice, reach out to Dr. Sinicropi’s office today at (651) 430-3800.
