Back pain is no joke, and chronic back pain can leave you functionally disabled. Lower back pain is one of the top causes of disability in the world, and one of the top reasons for people to miss work. The widespread nature of lower back pain has been implicated in the opioid crisis. More than half of Americans will have report some form of back pain each year.
Experiencing chronic back pain can be enormously stressful. Your spine is the base for your entire body, and lower back pain can prevent you from completing tasks as basic as standing up straight or sitting down. When you experience pain in your back, your quality of life can be severely inhibited.
Luckily, there are some natural ways to relieve chronic back pain that don’t involve becoming dependent on pain medication. A healthy lifestyle and gentle accommodations should help relieve much of someone’s back pain, allowing them to live a fuller and more pain-free life. Here’s the secret: he best tricks for relieving chronic back pain all involve moving your body a little bit more.
Have a walking routine
Going for a brisk walk regularly can provide an immense amount of benefit for back pain, although you may feel inclined to minimize movement and lie down when you’re in pain instead. However, a lack of exercise can lead to a weakening of the muscles in your back and legs, which can only aggravate lower back pain.
Regular exercise can increase your spine’s stability, helping protect yourself against future injury and strain. Don’t overdo it - you shouldn’t necessarily be running a marathon just to treat some lower back pain, and you don’t want to push yourself and create more pain. But incorporating regular, gentle exercise into your routine will help build up your muscles and stamina, which will reduce the overall pain in your back.
Use yoga and stretching
Exercises that gently stretch the muscles in your back and legs, such as yoga, can provide an immense amount of relief for those with chronic back pain. This is advice from Glenbourne Chiropractor Halifax. Good stretches and movement can help increase the lumbar support of your spine, increase your flexibility and build up muscle along with other forms of exercise.
This particular style of exercise is popular for back treatment because particular moves, such as the downward dog, move your body in ways that can directly relieve pressure points in your body. In addition, yoga is relatively accessible to beginners and those who are not already physically active, making it an ideal choice for gently stretching and exercising your back in order to relieve pain.
Buy softer beds
Beds that provide adequate spinal support without adding pressure to your body and leaving you sore in the morning are crucial to minimizing back pain. A medium-firm bed that provides support but isn’t too hard is best.
Although conventional wisdom used to recommend the firmest bed possible for maximum spinal support, more recent studies have found that to be the worst possible solution. On the other hand, a very soft mattress might seem to be the gentlest, but you may find that when using it, your body sinks into rather uncomfortable positions that cause you to put unexpected pressure on your spine, particularly when you’re trying to get out of bed in the morning. Look for memory foam, which minimizes pressure all over your body and adjusts to the shape of your spine, or a high-quality latex bed.
Treating chronic back pain can feel like an ongoing war. Luckily, making gentle life changes like increasing your exercise and getting the right support for your spine can help improve your quality of life and reduce your pain.
Jeremiah Owyang is an internet entrepreneur.