Tip 1 - Avoid Heat Treatments
It's amazing just how many people are told to use heat treatments when they have back pain, considering that it's probably the worst thing you could hope to do. After all, back pain rarely has anything to do with the muscles, but instead, it's usually due to a problem with the nerves, in that they may be subject to irritation because of a misaligned spine. When this happens the muscles will usually stiffen in order to protect you against further injury, so for this reason the muscles should never be forced into relaxing.
In the vast majority of cases back pain is simply a result of nerve irritation which has been caused by an injury, and it's interesting to note that the injury may have taken place years before the first pain occurred. Because there's essentially a problem with the joints, even the slightest strain can result in the tissues surrounding the disks to become inflamed, and because of the swelling, the spinal nerves come under excessive pressure and this is what causes you to experience that familiar shooting pain whenever you trying to move in certain ways. Rather than applying heat, one should use ice instead. When ice is applied it helps to reduce swelling, and that in turn helps to reduce the amount of pressure on the different nerves. Even though some people may experience relief when they apply heat, you need to bear in mind that you could be causing additional problems in the long term. NEVER use heat treatment on the spinal area!
Tip 2 - Start Walking
Contrary to what you may believe, walking is probably the best exercise you can think of as far as your spine is concerned. This is very important because the movements involved with walking force your abdominal muscles and your hip muscles to work simultaneously. Furthermore, if you add one or two inches to each step it will also help to free up stuck bones in your spine, and this in turn can go a long way in reducing any swelling and pain. Not only is walking beneficial to your spine, but it's also excellent in keeping your hip joins loose and healthy. A word of caution however, in that if walking causes you any pain then you should stop now.
Tip 3 - Don't Abuse Pain Relief Medication
So many people immediately reach for the pain killers the minute they feel any pain in their backs, but this is not really what you should be doing. Apart from the fact that you could end up doing yourself more harm than good, you also need to understand that all painkillers have potential side effects. Also, such medication simply blocks the pain signal to your nerves rather than deal with the problem. To a great extent, the pain signal is your body's first line of defense; in that it lets you know when something is majorly wrong. It also lets you know what your physical limits are.
For example, if you bend over and you feel a sharp pain then that's your body's way of telling you that specific type of movement isn't what you should be doing. Of course if you use drugs to block the pain signal then you're essentially preventing your body from communicating with you, and as a result, you could end up doing things which you shouldn't really be doing. If you really must take painkillers, then you should do so before you go to bed or only when you're absolutely certain that you won't be doing anything else later in the day.
Tip 4 - Don't Do Crunches
People have always been advised to strengthen their stomach muscles in order to help reduce back pain, and while strong stomach muscles certainly are important, you should never do crunches in order to strengthen them.
The most important feature of your spine is the natural curves, in that these help to absorb shock in much the same way as a shock absorber works for a car. Every time you do crunches you end up pushing your lower back down towards the floor, and this goes against the natural curve of your spine. The resultant strain is then absorbed by all the other spinal joints, and because they have not been designed to cope with such strain, problems will inevitably occur. Something else to bear in mind is that when you have the proper curves in your spine, the various spinal bones tend to lock together in order to form an ideal type of mechanism. Crunches always involve the spine becoming straightened, at which point it becomes extremely vulnerable to injury. Rather than do sit ups when you want to strengthen your abdominal muscles, you should focus on doing other exercises instead, such as swimming for example.
Tip 5 - Get Yourself Adjusted
Forget what you may have been told because your spinal bones aren't simply going to move back in to the proper position on their own accord. Because some form of force was necessary in order to cause the misalignment in the first place, you also need a certain amount of force in order to get the bones back into their proper positions. You also need to realize that just because the pain disappears that's not to say that the spinal nerve irritation has gone. In fact, until the problem is properly fixed, it will continue to linger, and whenever you do too much physically, the pain will simply reappear. Because the pain is not always present, many people believe the problem has gone away, and as a result, they end up injuring themselves in the same place over and over and again.
Contrary to what they believe, every time they injure their backs, it's simply the old injury surfacing once again. If you had a hole in your tooth you'd go to the dentist in order to get it fixed, so if you have a problem with your back then you need to go and see a chiropractor so that he can make the necessary adjustments.
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