Treatments for back pain

Introduction

Back pain is one of the most common ailments in today’s day and age. It usually takes about a few weeks to a month to heal. The NHS of the US reports that 54% of adults in the US have faced some form of back pain in the last five5 years. There are many causes of back pain. Most common ones include bad sleeping habits, not having the correct posture, lack of physical activity, extreme exercise, and smoking is also a proven cause of back pain.

Treatments

There are three types of treatments to back pain which are categorized below:

1)Home Remedies

• Correcting your sleeping habits is the best way to cope with back pain. This may include trying sleeping on your side or placing a pillow between your knees and lower back.

• As most of the work nowadays is done while sitting, having a wrong sitting posture can lead to back pains. Try to sit straight up and rest your back on the chair. Try a round pillow or a rolled-up towel for back support.
• Heating and cooling patches are a proven remedy to back pain. Heating patches can release muscle tightness while cooler ones remedy sole muscles. Try both and see which one helps you. But this treatment is not recommended for more than 20 mins at a time.
• The last one is drinking anti-inflammatory drinks. Turmeric milk, tart cherry juices, and green herbal teas contain anti-inflammatory substances which release inflammation in the back.

2)Medication

If the pain is not relieved by these remedies within a few weeks, it is highly advised to see a doctor, preferably a chiropractor or physiotherapist. You’ll be prescribed NSAIDs which are non-steroidal and anti-inflammatory medicine, the most common one being aspirin. If the pain is not eased within a few weeks, your doctor might prescribe some muscle relaxants that may release your pain if muscle spasms or other muscular issues cause it. Keep in mind that all types of medication have side effects, so you should be careful about any kind of reaction you might have.

3)Surgery

The last and most extreme form of treatment for back pain is surgery. A person may need surgery for multiple reasons like bulging disks, spinal misconfiguration, nerve damage, or a severe injury to the bone. The most common type of spinal surgery is spinal decompression or fusion. Others, too, include discectomy, foraminotomy, and artificial disk replacement.

Conclusion

The achy back can be easily treated with home remedies or specific exercises and medicines in most cases. But in the case of chronic pain and surgeries, there is a considerable risk that a person might become paralyzed from the waist down altogether. That is why preventions are necessary. The most important one is always to lift using your legs and knees instead of using your back and see a doctor if your pain does not go away in a month.