5 Treatments for Lower Back Pain That Doesn’t Involve Medication
Lower back pain is one of the menaces that can make life unbearable for you. It can result to decrease in productivity at work and prevent you from working in the kitchen.
The US Department of Health & Human Services estimates that about 100 million adults suffer from chronic lower back pain.
And the cost of treatment edges up to $635 billion yearly. This is the second most common ailment after headache.
Another study by the Association of Academic Psychiatrists put the pain as the fifth reason people see the doctor in the US.
So in this article you’ll learn different treatments for lower back pain that doesn’t involve using medication.
1. Exercise
Something simple about this type of low back pain treatment is that you can do it on your own. You don’t need to see a Physiotherapist.
Being active is a suitable means of reducing or treating pain. Keep doing your daily routine and activities.
Simple things like swimming, skipping, taking a walk, back stretches, and other regular exercises can serve as lower back pain treatments.
A study in the National Library of Medicine found out that endogenous opioids (endorphins) that are released during exercise help control and ease the pain.
Lower back pain exercise can also help strengthen leg muscles.
2. Massage
This is another simple way of achieving lower back pain treatment. This type of lower back pain-relieving method is cheap and very much reliable.
Swedish massage, for example, can improve your lower back by strengthening, relaxing, and lengthening the muscle fibers around the lower back.
This type of therapy also pumps blood, oxygen, and nutrients to the body’s inflamed part. It gets rid of excess lactic acid that might have built up in the body.
Regular massage helps prevent lower back pain. There are various types of massage for back pain.
Your therapist is in the best position to tell you the suitable one for your kind of lower back pain.
3. Acupuncture
This is a Chinese form of treatment that can bring about lower back pain relief. Acupuncture eliminates pain through the energy that flows throughout the body along some certain meridians.
If other treatments are not working for your back pain, acupuncture is something to give a try.
Acupuncture can offer you lower-back pain therapy by merely placing pins in some strategic positions in the body. Places like the foot, back of the kneel, hands, hip, etc.
Though acupuncture’s mechanism of action is yet to be understood, it is believed that it brings about lower back pain relief by releasing endogenous opioids, and neurotransmitters, and stimulating nerve endings.
4. Hot and or Cold therapy
Either or both methods can offer lower back pain care. It is essential to know when to use either or both treatments.
Use the hot press when:
- Muscle tension is the cause of the pain
- The pain is chronic
Use the cold press when:
- The injury or pain is new
- The pain is chronic
Do not use the hot press:
- If the injury or pain is new
- If the skin is broken or inflamed
Do not use the cold press:
- If the muscle is stiffened
- If old muscles aches
Hot press helps to relax muscles and prevent spasm by allowing the flow of oxygen, blood, and nutrients to tight areas.
Cold press contributes to pain numbing. It is beneficial in inflammatory pain like arthritis.
How to use cold therapy
- Wrap an ice pack in a towel and place it on your back for 5-15minutes. This helps reduce nerve conduction of pain.
- Related: Ice Bath: 7 Surprising Health Benefits (Backed By Science)
How to use hot therapy
- Having a warm shower bath can help strengthen and relax muscle
- You may place a hot towel on the area where you feel the pain
5. Meditation
If you are interested in achieving a lower-back pain cure without using drugs or undergoing surgery, we recommend you go meditating.
In a study, the International Journal of Yoga concluded that sitting and walking forms of meditation can help achieve lower back pain therapy, consequently improving the quality of life.
The popular gate control theory states that the brain plays a significant role in how you perceive pain.
Considering this, if the mind processes can change the way the brain interprets pain, then there will reduction in pain signals coming from the brain.
It is on this premise meditation is built. To achieve lower back pain care, you should combine meditation-based stress reduction with yoga.
Sit in a quiet place, close your eyes, and focus on your breath. You may think you would need narcotics to do this. You don’t need it at all, just focus on your breathing.
Takeaway
So far, we’ve been able to show you different treatments for the lower back, be it chronic or acute pain. We expect that you pick the one that you feel is the best.
You don’t need to undergo surgery or keep popping pills.
If you can effectively follow this guide, we are sure that low back pain treatment without medication is very much possible.
