Staying In Bed For Three Days
It used to be that when you went to see your doctor for back pain she would tell you to stay in bed for three days and rest. Many doctors are now realizing that in some cases this can actually do more harm than good.
One typical cause of back pain is when the muscles cramp up due to stress. The muscles are trying to protect themselves. Its the same way an armadillo curls up in its own shell when threatened! But as long as those muscles are all curled up, youre going to be in pain.
Stroll Toward Relaxation!
Doctors now are realizing that while you want to relieve stress and pressure on your lower back, you dont want to stay in bed and inactive for any length of time. Being inactive means that your metabolism and your blood circulation both slow down. This means that the vital blood and healing agents that your body needs to fix itself are not going to reach those lower back muscles.
Today doctors are often advising patients to rest for a few hours and apply heat to their back. But thats not all. Doctors also advise to get active again in something with no impact or that is very gentle but that does get you moving.
Taking a slow walk regularly or swimming is a much better idea if you want to reduce stress and lower back pain naturally and quickly.
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Relieving Your Back Pain
When you are suffering from an ache or struggling to get lower back pain relief, it may seem difficult to take a proactive approach to the matter. However, alleviating such aches may be largely within your control. If you make some simple changes in habit and lifestyle, you might be pleasantly surprised by the results. At North Texas Medical Center, we take great pride in helping our community achieve better health. If you are suffering from backache, call us at , or contact us online today.
What To Look For In A Pillow
Your pillow should cradle your head and neck and help to support the upper portion of your spine.
If you sleep on your back, your pillow should completely fill the space between your neck and the mattress. If you sleep on your side, try using a thicker pillow to keep your head in line with the rest of your body in this position.
Whatever you do, dont place your pillow under your shoulders.
For back sleepers: You may do best with thinner pillows and those that have extra padding in the bottom to support the neck.
Memory foam is a good material that molds specifically to your own neck.
A water pillow is another option that gives firm, all-over support.
For stomach sleepers: You should aim to use the thinnest pillow possible or no pillow at all. In fact, you may try sleeping on your side while holding a body pillow. The body pillow will give you the feeling of something against your stomach while helping to align the rest of your body.
For side sleepers: You may want to look for a firm pillow. Better yet, try to find one that has an extra-wide gusset that will help with the space between your ear and shoulder. And dont forget to place a firm pillow between your knees. You may even substitute a rolled towel.
While youre at it, remember to change your pillow every 18 months or so. Those pillow protectors can be a good barrier, but pillows still hold lots of allergy triggers like mold and dust mites.
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What Can Cause A Tight Lower Back
Sports injuries, overtraining, and accidents can cause your back to feel tight. Even everyday activities such as sitting can cause tightness.
Often you develop tightness in the lower back to compensate for an issue in another part of the body. Tight hamstrings and gluteus muscles can also contribute to this tightness. Having poor posture or using incorrect form while lifting weights or having weak core muscles can also play a part.
There are several other factors that can lead to or complicate a tight lower back. These include:
- sprains and strains
Youll typically see improvements within two to six weeks of doing daily exercises. You should see a doctor if:
- your pain doesnt improve within a few weeks
- you have intense pain while doing the exercises
- the pain spreads to your legs
Also see a doctor if you experience any numbness, swelling, or severe pain. Your doctor can help to determine if any pain or tightness is being caused by an underlying condition.
There are many lifestyle changes you can practice to help prevent lower back pain. Here are a few guidelines and tips:
- Adopt a balanced, healthy diet.
- Maintain a healthy weight.
Strengthen Your Core Muscles Daily
Strong and supportive muscles throughout the trunk of your body are essential to support your spine. Core-building exercises include:
- Low-impact cardiovascular exercise, such as normal or brisk walking, which helps increase blood flow to the spine and stretch your muscles. An adequate flow of blood supplies healing nutrients and hydration to the structures in your lower back.1,2
- Water therapy, which provides a greater range of motion due to the buoyancy of water, particularly for exercises that require lifting the legs. Water also provides resistance by means of gentle friction, allowing the strengthening and conditioning of an injured muscle.3Water therapy is optimal for people who have chronic back pain and find it too painful to exercise without the supportive effect of water.
- Exercise ball workouts, such as sitting on the ball intermittently for about 20 to 30 minutes and/or using the ball for stretches and exercises that engage your core muscles.4
If exercise seems difficult or impossible to you, make small goals to slowly get yourself moving, such as going up and down your stairs 3 times in a row or walking in a park with a friend.
Consider engaging a physical therapist or other qualified health practitioners to help you get started and provide correct guidance on how to safely exercise.
Read more about Physical Therapy for Low Back Pain Relief
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Causes Of Lower Back Pain
If youre wondering why your lower back hurts, youre not alone. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , lower back pain may be the most common type of pain adults in the U.S. experience.
Like with other types of back pain, there are many causes of lower back pain, including muscle strain, herniated discs, repetitive motions and even bad posture. And youre more likely to deal with chronic low back pain if youre overweight, have a sedentary lifestyle or regularly lift heavy objects.
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Select Your Sleep Position Wisely
Weve just shown you how to tame back tension when youre awake. What about while you sleep? Often times, the back pain you wake up with is due to a poor sleep position during the night.
For most people with problematic backs, sleeping on your back is the healthiest sleep position. When you sleep on your back, your weight is evenly distributed and your spine is properly aligned, so you can rest easy and wake up to a pain-free morning. For extra relief, place a pillow underneath your knees. This trick will take the stress off of your spine.
If youre a diehard side sleeper, you can help your back relax by putting a pillow between your knees. The pillow works to keep your hips, pelvis, and spine in better alignment. If theres a gap between your waist and the mattress, place a small pillow or rolled-up towel there for added support.
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Bonus Tip: Lower Back Pain Is Directly Impacted By Your Overall Health
When you improve your overall physical fitness and general health, it will benefit your lower back. The following simple measures can help prevent the development, chronicity, or flaring of your lower back pain, such as:
- Minimizing the consumption of alcohol
- Getting enough deep, restorative sleep
- Following an anti-inflammatory diet
Precautions And When To Avoid Doing It
Whenever you try to crack your back, do it slowly, purposefully, and within a safe range of motion. Jerking your back, trying to stretch it too far or both can cause injury, such as muscle strains, joint sprains, or bone dislocation.
Do not crack your back and see your doctor as soon as possible if you experience any of the following:
- Youve recently injured your back and you feel like its out of alignment or cant fully move it.
- You cant move your back within its full range of motion or cant move it at all without sharp pain.
- You feel persistent pain in your back before, during, or after cracking that doesnt go away with pain medication.
And cracking your back should feel good. A 2011 study suggests that even just the sound of cracking can make you feel a little better.
If you feel temporary pain when you attempt to crack your back or lasting pain afterward, you might have an underlying condition that needs medical treatment. If this is the case, see your doctor or a chiropractor before you attempt any of these exercises.
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Dissipate Stressors During Everyday Activities
Even small amounts of stressing on the intricate structures in your lower back can add up and lead to degeneration and pain over time. Here are recommendations on how to reduce everyday stresses to concentrate on your lower back5:
- Opening a door. While opening a door, stand straight in front of the doorâs handle and pull it perpendicular to your body. Avoid standing on the side of the handle and twisting your trunk while opening the door, which may injure your spinal ligaments.
- Using a vacuum cleaner. While vacuuming, hold the vacuum cleaner in front of your body with both hands and use small arm movements while cleaning. Holding the vacuum to the side of your body with just one hand results in large arm movements and requires more twisting torque forces on your lower spine.
- Shoveling snow or while gardening. While shoveling, rest one arm on your thigh while slightly bending the knees. This technique helps prevent large arm movements and prolonged stooping, which significantly loads your lower back.
Using spine-sparing principles such as these on a daily basis helps prevent chronic injury to the tissues.
How Long Does A Pinched Nerve Last
Pinched nerve recovery time depends on both the amount of damage and the type of treatment you choose. Damage from a pinched nerve may be minor or severe. It may cause temporary or long-lasting problems. The earlier you get a diagnosis and treatment for nerve compression, the more quickly youll find relief.
But by treatment, I mean alternative treatment. Pain medication is not treatment.
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High Plank With Pull Through
8 reps per arm
This is another movement that will get your obliques involved, which will help to take pressure off the low back. You’ll need a sandbag or light weight you can use to pull from one side to the other.
How to Do It:
- Get into a high plank position with your glutes and quads tight and pushing through your hands as you lift your chest away from the ground.
- Reach with one arm for a sandbag positioned by your abs on the opposite side, and pull it through to the other side, trying to keep your hips as stable as possible.
- Do eight or so repetitions on each side.
How Do I Know If Back Pain Is Serious
Any time youre experiencing back pain that lasts longer than two weeks with no improvement, we strongly recommend you seek care. If you have sudden back pain or chronic back pain with certain symptoms, or if you have a history of cancer, the pain could be a sign of something more serious. These symptoms include:
- Unexplained fever
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Managing Low Back Pain
Manage back pain with regular exercise and professional help as requiredIf you have an attack of lower-back pain that is severe, continuous and not improving, assessment and treatment by a health care professional who focuses on the back or other musculoskeletal problems may help. These practitioners may use both active and passive techniques to help you feel better. Examples of passive techniques that may be used to get you moving include:
An active approach, like walking or water aerobics is usually the most effective. Exercise is often the best way to relieve lower-back pain.
Check with your health care provider before starting an exercise program.
Work with an expert. It may help to work with a health professional who can explain which activities are right for you.
Choose exercises you enjoy. Many activities can help relieve back pain. Try to include activities that strengthen the muscles around your trunk, your abdominal muscles as well as those in your lower back. Studies show the following activities help relieve back pain:
- Lifting light weights
Maintain Correct Posture When Sitting
You can avoid lower back pain by maintaining proper posture when sitting. If you have a desk job, keep your feet planted on the floor and use a chair that provides lower back support. Also, avoid hunching forward to see your computer screen and reaching far in front of you to use your mouse or keyboard.
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High Plank With Knee Drive Hold
8 reps per side
The reason we’re doing these isometric holds here in this position is we want to start to strengthen your hip flexor muscle, says Giordano, adding that your hip flexor muscle is a vertical stabilizer of the spine. So we need to make sure that that muscle is strong enough so your core stays strong, taking pressure off of your lower back.
How to Do It:
- Get in a standard high plank position with your palms on the floor.
- Drive one knee up toward your opposite elbow and hold for three seconds in a dorsiflexion position .
- Do about eight repetitions on each side with a three-second hold at the top.
Ask For Recommendations To Find The Best Mattress
If youre wondering how to get rid of lower back pain while sleeping, and youve decided to spring for a mattress, you can also rely on reviews to help.
Ask the salesperson which ones he or she would suggest for back pain. Also look towards the internet for online reviews and testimonials. We suggest checking out these mattresses that were created specifically for people with back pain.
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Arthritis Of The Spine
Arthritis of the spine the slow degeneration of the spinal joints is the most frequent cause of lower back pain. All of us experience wear and tear as we age, and it is normal for your lower back to start acting up as you get older. As the cartilage breaks down between the spinal joints, surrounding tissues may become inflamed. The inflammation and the thinning of cartilage increase friction in the joints, which may cause pain in the lower back.
Rest Your Back After Prolonged Bending
When you bend forward for a long time, such as while weeding your garden, certain changes take place in your discs and ligaments. These changes last for a few minutes, during which time, the stability of your spine is reduced. The joints also become temporarily stiff during this period.5
Your lower back is at risk for sustaining a sudden injury after these tissue changes if you exert stress on your back immediately afterward, such as lifting a bag of soil right after youâve been bending and weeding for a long time.5
It is advisable to stand upright for a few minutes and allow the spinal tissues to recover and re-shape after prolonged stooping or bending before attempting strenuous exertions.5
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Heat Therapy And Cold Therapy To Help Back Pain
Heat therapy and cold therapy are two sides of the same coin. Heat therapy uses warm water or heating pads to relieve muscle pain, while cold therapy uses ice or cold water. In certain situations, using heat therapy and cold therapy can help relieve pain and promote healing.
For new or acute pain like pain caused by a fall or other pain that shouldnt last beyond six weeks cold therapy can be a great way to reduce swelling, decrease inflammation and numb pain.
For chronic pain pain thats expected to last or has lasted for more than six weeks heat is usually the temperature of choice for soothing pain and stimulating the healing process.
You might benefit from both hot and cold therapy. For instance, after exercise, immediate cold therapy can reduce muscle soreness. After 24 hours, switching to heat therapy can help your muscles heal faster.
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Who Should Avoid Spinal Decompression At Home
While decompression at home sounds like a great idea, it is not suitable for everyone. You need to talk to your doctor before using any of the techniques mentioned above. Avoid using any of these techniques if you are pregnant or have other health conditions, such as tumor, fracture, advanced osteoporosis, metal implants in the spine, and abdominal aortic aneurysm.
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