How Do You Alleviate Lower Back Pain?

Back pain can be the cause of much suffering for many people. In fact, in the UK, research has found that around ‘4 in 5 adults of adults experience low back pain at some point in their lifetimes’, emphasising just how bad the problem is.

Lower back pain can prevent you from carrying out day-to-day tasks or going about your routine without experiencing pain if you don’t find a solution.

There are many ways in which you can alleviate lower back pain. Tips for alleviating lower back pain include, but are not limited to:

1. Try to avoid aggravating exercise
2. Find a chiropractor
3. Keep active 
4. Get a desk assessment 
5. Applying heat or ice to the area  

1. Try To Avoid Aggravating Exercise

The first tip to alleviate back pain is to avoid exercise that could aggravate your injury.

Contact sports such as ‘football, hockey, basketball, [and] boxing…can aggravate back pain and even cause injury’, so these are all included under this umbrella until your back pain begins to ease.

Whether you typically play a high impact sport on the weekend, or have a regular running routine, this can put strain on your spine and cause lower back pain.

As such, you should try to avoid exercise that you’ve noticed correlates with your back pain, or at least minimise it, until you find a more permanent solution.

2. Find A Chiropractor

One of the best tips to help alleviate lower back pain is to find a chiropractor. Chiropractic care is designed to help treat back pain caused by a range of different conditions and is highly recommended if you’re looking for a more permanent solution for your back pain.

Chiropractors use an array of ‘techniques to treat problems with the muscles and joints‘, such as spinal manipulation.

How often you see a chiropractor is subjective to your particular situation and your back pain. We at Fox Chiropractic offer chiropractic care as well as various types of massage therapy to alleviate your lower back pain, and provide you with a plan that works with your lifestyle.

If you’re struggling with lower back pain and it’s beginning to affect your life, then be sure to get in touch with a member of our friendly team and book an appointment today. 

3. Keep Active 

The next tip to alleviate lower back pain is to keep as active as possible without straining yourself and causing stress to your body.

Although this might sound counterproductive after being told to avoid aggravating exercise, keeping active is the best way to keep your body and your joints healthy.

Moderate exercise that doesn’t cause your back pain to flare up, such as walking and stretching can benefit both your mental and physical health whilst helping to alleviate your back pain.

So, be sure to keep your activity levels up even if you don’t necessarily feel like it.

4. Get A Desk Assessment 

If you work a desk job, a good tip to help alleviate lower back pain is to get a desk assessment, as this might be having a bigger impact on your back than you initially realise.

Desk assessments are often offered by employers and are essential for people that use ‘display screen equipment as part of their normal work’. In addition to this, with the increase of people working at home, desk assessments have become even more important.

Considering that ‘81% of UK office workers spend between four and nine hours each day sitting at their desk’, you can see why desk-based work can cause lower back pain.

Desk assessments check factors such as the height of your screen, your chair, as well as how you’re sitting at your desk which can all have an impact on your body.

As such, getting a proper desk assessment can significantly help to reduce lower back pain.

5. Applying Heat Or Ice To The Area  

Lastly, applying heat or ice to the area can help to alleviate lower back pain, though this is a short-term solution.

Before you decide whether to use heat or ice on the area, you’ll need to establish whether you’re prone to back spasms.

If you are, then heat packs (as well as antispasmodic medication prescribed by your GP) can help alleviate your lower back pain and help with your back spasms.

On the other hand, if you’re not dealing with back spasms, then applying an ice pack to your lower back can help to alleviate your back pain. This comes down to the fact that cold treatment is known to ‘reduce inflammation by decreasing blood flow’.

As such, applying heat or ice can help you to alleviate lower back pain in the short-term.

We are Fox Chiropractic: specialists in the diagnosis and treatment of musculoskeletal injury or pain. For more information about the services we provide, check out our website or get in touch to speak to a friendly member of the team on 07540 942 448 /  info@foxchiropractic.co.uk.

Written by Jemima Thomas for Fox Chiropractic.