Your choices for treatment of back pain are surgery, steroid injections, pain medications, exercise strengthening and stretching programs, and techniques that place external force on the back such as deep massage, manipulation and passive stretching. Because surgery has such a high failure rate, it is usually recommended only when there is danger of permanent injury such as loss of feeling, loss of muscle control or intractable pain. Steroid injections offer temporary relief, but almost never cure back problems.
When possible, first line treatment is a program of active exercise to strengthen and stretch belly, back and leg muscles along with manipulation and deep massage, which is far more effective than bed rest. Strength training requires supervised exercising against progressively greater resistance one to three times a week. Stretching includes daily stretching of the back and leg muscles. Deep massage can be so painful and so irritating to the skin that it often is done only once a week. Superficial light massage has not been shown to help cure back pain. Manipulation can relax muscles that have gone into spasm and help to relieve pain effectively.
Thank you Dr. Gabe for posting this very interesting and much needed information as so many people, my husband among them, have lower back problems. And sometimes the culprit is something as simple as a poor mattress which I think is the case with my husband, poor meaning not firm enough in his case. My husbands brother recently had back surgery followed by a tens unit implant which went disastrously wrong since he contracted MRSA infection at the implant site and is now in danger of being paralyzed or losing his life if the infection gets into his bloodstream and goes to his heart (if I understand the consequences correctly). I believe that my brother in law would have benefited by non-invasive techniques such as you support but some people are stubborn and believe that surgery will be the magic solution to their problems.
Noreen I agree with you so very much about how our body speaks to us in metaphors. Pain in the neck, pain in the ass, weak in the knees, tied up in knots, sick and tired, dragging my feet, and so on and so on. I always listen for these messages and try to elicit them from my loved ones when they complain of having a pain somewhere or not feeling well. Also, I find that these clues show up in dreams. Very interesting topic. I wish that alternative medicine was respected more by the medical insurance companies. But progress is being made in that direction so there is hope.
Ms Cosmiccat (Carol)
There are many more treatments, I've tried them for my lower back pain and used them on others too, treating the emotional cause (even when the initial injury is mechanical) works wonders! Our body speaks in metaphors and very often the metaphor with back pain is lack of support, which is hugely stressful and puts extreme tension in the muscles and aggravates any pre-existing injury and prevents it from healing fully.
Noreen.
'Yes, we need more alternative medicine, and even better, more preventative care in this country, instead of spending millions of dollars treating minor conditions that could be avoided in the first place!
Invasive procedures and surgeries have always scared me, especially where my back is concerned – which is why I've opted for stretching/exercise and different forms of ice and heat therapy in the past. You would be surprised to hear that at the ripe age of 25, I've already been dealing with recurring back pain since age 18, after an injury in college hurt my tailbone. It has gotten so ridiculous that I sometimes resemble an 85 year old woman just trying to bend over the sink and brush my teeth in mornings! A few months ago, a good friend of mine got me this really cool and natural heat wrap as a present called BeltLife (http://www.beltlife.com/index.php?main_page=index&tab=why_beltlife), and it has already changed my life. Unlike Thermacare heat wraps that I've tried (and bought many Costco size boxes of), this particular wrap is made of all natural sheepskin which feels really SO nice and soft on your skin. My back stays warm the whole time I'm wearing it, without getting to hot, and so far, it seems like my back is no longer screaming at me every morning, and is gradually getting stronger and healthier. This has also really helped me get back into yoga – it has been just too much of a strain until now.
Firstly it should be decided that what type of back pain do a person have? The only way out is to go to an expert chiropractor such as Tacoma chiropractor. Then one should do regular exercises and take proper medication and diet.
I work 12 hours on my laptop and a back pain is inevitable in such a case. I cannot stop working and the back pain is quite frequent, firstly I use a hot water bag for pain relief. Instead of eating pain killers I always use methods that will not harm me. Also exercising is very important, if you are flexing ur muscles and body parts then they respond.
Massage for back is also one thing I done quite often it really relieves all the back pain and stress.
Ted,
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