What can I do to help my low back pain?

Posted in: Management, Self-Care    Keywords: , , , , , , , ,

If any of the Red flags for low back pain apply to you, see your doctor. Your doctor will examine you to see if your low back pain is due to any rare but serious cause. The vast majority of people with low back pain have no serious illness. Once the doctor rules out serious illness, you may choose to manage your own low back pain at home. You can take a number of steps on your own to manage the pain and help your low back to heal. For the first few days or weeks of low back pain, the best choice you can make is to stay involved in day-to-day activities, including work, family, and recreation. Stay physically active despite the pain. Try to return to all your normal activities as soon as possible. Try not to let the pain limit what you do.

Doctors used to prescribe bed rest for low back pain. We now know that bed rest deprives the back of normal motion that is needed for discs to get nutrition and heal. Lack of movement in the back delays healing. It can even make the pain worse by decreasing blood flow and keeping pain chemicals in the low back longer. Too much rest may also weaken surrounding muscles, making it more difficult to return to normal activities.

Moderate exercise, on the other hand, promotes healing. It can reduce low back pain once you get over the initial resistance to movement your body might feel. The type of exercise you do in the first weeks of back pain isn’t important, as long as you are active. Walking for 10 to 20 minutes a day is an excellent choice. Many people find it helpful to exercise in a pool at first because the water provides support as they move.

In addition to resuming your normal activities and getting regular exercise, you may find other ways to relieve your pain. Some people find it helpful to apply heat to the low back with a disposable or reusable heat pack or patch. Others prefer cold from an ice pack. Either one is fine, as long as you don’t apply it directly to your skin.

Taking over the counter medication may also help to temporarily reduce the pain and let you continue your normal activities. The first choice to relieve low back pain is acetaminophen. Tylenol is one of the brand names. If you can’t take acetaminophen or if you find that it doesn’t reduce your pain, the second choice may be ibuprofen or naproxen. Brand names for ibuprofen are Advil, Motrin, and Nuprin. Brand names for naproxen are Aleve and Naprosyn. Muscle relaxants are rarely helpful for low back pain and can make you very drowsy and unable to drive or function in your daily life. Talk to your pharmacist if you need help choosing an appropriate over the counter medication for your low back pain.

If you follow these back care principles, you should be able to return to your normal activities and your low back pain will likely improve within a few weeks. You should continue your exercise routine even after you get better to help your back heal completely. If, for some reason, returning to normal activities, exercise, heat, ice, and medication don’t lessen your pain within a few weeks, you may want to see a doctor. Your doctor may recommend other medication, spinal manipulation therapy, exercise therapy, or a combination of these. Other treatments like injections or surgery are rarely needed for low back pain and may do more harm than good.

 
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