Do you have difficulty bending over because of your back pain? Or are you simply experiencing minor backaches? 
Treating your back with care is important to your overall health and well-being, not to mention quality of life. Sometimes, the back problem may be a simple one to solve and sometimes it could be something more serious. If you’ve identified that is not something serious, some of these ideas here will help ease the pain you are feeling. Whether it is an old injury or a fresh one, we give you some quick tips to help get you going again.
Cold / Hot Treatments
The first is the old standby of using heat or ice treatments. It is a cheap at-home-remedy that doesn’t cost anything but some preparation. You can use supplies commonly found in your house.
The combination of using heat or ice is used to counter the pain signals and relax your body. Basically, the cold ice numbs the nerves and reduces the swelling where pain signals may be sent. The heat relaxes your muscles. Let’s start with what you’ll need for your ice pack.
Supplies for your improvised cold pack:
1 medium to large Ziploc bag
Some tap water
Kitchen towels or a small cloth towel
Put as many ice cubes into the ZipLoc bag. For less bulkier ice packs, use crushed ice. Add a little tap water so the cold ice melts slightly and spreads out over the cold surface. Wrap the ice pack with the cloth or with kitchen towels to “insulate” the bag slightly and avoid freezer burn on your skin from the ice. Apply the ice pack for 20 minutes followed by 20 minutes of rest away from the ice pack. Repeat for another one or two more times until you feel the relief. It should be about 5-10 minutes before the pain sensation is numbed.
For a heat treatment instead, simply getting into a hot tub or your bath tub filled with very warm water is a simple way. Add some epsom salts to the hot water to soak in for added benefits to your skin. If you don’t have a tub or wish to simply relax in your living room, using a heating pad is a good alternative for targeted treatment. The best type of heating pad is the type which utilizes far-infrared rays. This high-tech material is designed to warm and penetrate below the skin surface to relax muscles and improve blood circulation. This is much better than your standard hot water pad that only warms the surface. Regular treatment will help your body heal faster.
Exercise Those Core Muscles!
To avoid injuries to your back in the long run, one of the best things to do is get fit and build up your core muscles. Depending on what work you do and whether your exercise regularly, a simple task you perform around the house could pull a muscle or even cause you to have herniated disc. Sometimes a stretch or twist of your body could send your body into shocking pain. Exercising is a good way to build up strength, muscles and helps prevent issues with your back and legs. Weak leg muscles mean that they don’t absorb as much of the daily pounding your body experiences from even a simple walk. This can translate to more stress and impact on your spine over time.
Is It Your Office Chair Causing Back Problems?
If your job requires sitting for long periods of time and you always get up feeling the pain in the back, it could be as simple as getting a better office chair. Many lower end chairs do not provide lumbar support which is in the lower back region. Imagine sitting at the desk for hours and not supporting your lower back! An ergonomic chair, while slightly pricier, will be well worth the investment. It’s also a good idea to get up every half hour to an hour to stand up and walk around.
Perform Simple Back Stretches for Minor Backaches
Often, we don’t take care of our back until we experience pain. A simple stretch you can do for minor backaches is to squat down all the way and with your legs together bend your body forward and rest your neck on your knees. Take it slow initially. Feel the stretch in your back and hold there for 5 minutes. Repeat several times a day to loosen the tight muscles in your back.
Another technique is to take the stress off your back and legs by lifting your body with your arms and dangling your body over a fixed or heavy table top. Make sure your table top supports your upper body weight or it could tip over. If you don’t have a sturdy table, simply visiting your local fast food chain where they have tables anchored to the floor will suffice.
To do this exercise, you put your forearms over the edge of the table and gently lift your body up off the chair. Relax your legs and “hang” there for at least 3-5 minutes, more if you can hold it. This technique uses gravity to take the load off your back and allows space to increase in your lower vertebrae. If the root of your problem lies with pinched nerves, this is a great technique to experience some quick relief. Note that this will not solve the problem long term but it does offer some quick relief when you need that break from the pain.
Do Get It Checked Out If You Have Not Done So
It is a good idea to see your primary care physician if pain persists. Never hurts to be sure that the back problem is not a serious problem. The worse thing you could do is to ignore it and exacerbate the problem further.