Backache is the most common ailment which is troubling the man-kind from ages. It is causing uneasiness in the present

Back Pain and Home Remedies

generation as well. Lower back pain, back pain or lumbago is a discomfort in the lower back region. The pain may vary from mild to severe. The intensity of pain varies from one person to another. The pain may be a sudden attack or take a chronic form and thus called acute form. In acute form, the pain starts suddenly whereas in chronic form, the pain may last for 3 – 4 months. This is a most common problem in pregnant women because of stretching of ligaments around uterus. There are some home remedies for back pain which help in treating the condition to some extent. Here are some of them.

Back Pain Home Remedies:
Home remedies for back pain are used with more safety compared to drugs, particularly pregnant women. Following are some remedies for backache:

Massaging: Massage the affected area with the herbal oils using knuckles and slowly increase the pressure. You will feel better after a few minutes. This helps to relieve tension and also relaxes the muscles.

St. John’s Wort: Application of St. John’s wort oil gives relief from the pain.

Eucalyptus oil: This is another beneficial remedy for back pain. Massage the affected area with eucalyptus oil. You can also use mustard oil for massaging.

Basil: Take a cup of water and boil 10 basil leaves in it. Boil the decoction until it reduces to half the quantity. Let it cool and later add salt to it. Drink this mixture every day. If you have severe back pain, drink it twice a day.

Garlic: Another effective home remedy is garlic. Include garlic in your diet.

Guggulu: Every day eat half a tablespoon of guggulu after having meals. This must be taken twice a day with the warm water.

Ice: Ice also helps in reducing the inflammation of the back pain. Switch to hot packs after a few days.

Diet: Include lettuce, cucumber, cabbage, carrot, tomato and also include two lightly cooked vegetables like carrot, spinach and cauliflower in your diet.

Exercising: Exercise regularly for about 30 minutes.

Honey: Add a tablespoon of honey to a glass of warm water and drink it. This soothes the back pain.

Vitamin C: In some cases, vitamin C deficiency can also lead to backache. Hence, increase vitamin C intake in the diet.

Reduce weight: If you are overweight, first reduce weight, as spine cannot bear the extra pressure.

Tips to Prevent Back Pain:
Bend Knees: While lifting heavy objects, first bend your knees. This prevents the tension in lower back which results in the damage of spinal cord and back muscles.

Do not twist: While lifting objects, do not twist. This will have bad impact on the vertebrae.

During pregnancy: During the last couple of months of your pregnancy, do not lift heavy objects.

So, don’t be afraid to try some of these home remedies.  They may not totally eliminate you back pain, but they can possibly give you some relief.  The good thing about home remedies is that they are non-invasive and usually use items which are readily available at home or over the counter.  Back pain and home remedies do go together.  Don’t be afraid to try!

Drs. Peter Moley and Alice Chen, both physiatrists in Greenwich, see a large increase in patients suffering from back pain between now and the end of the year. “For some, it starts when people try to lift a heavy package and hurt their backs,” says Dr. Chen, who lives in Weston and will be joining the Affiliated Physicians Office of Hospital for Special Surgery in Greenwich in early January.

Once someone has back pain — and the most common area is the lower back — there’s an 80 percent chance they will have back pain again, according to Dr. Moley, who lives in Darien and sees patients at the Affiliated Physicians Office in Greenwich and at Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan.

Physiatrists are specialists in the nonsurgical treatment of muscle and joint conditions, as well as spinal and sports-related injuries. Drs. Chen and Moley say back pain is the most common reason for patient visits. Indeed, it’s the leading cause of disability in Americans under age 45. More than 26 million Americans between the ages of 20-64 experience frequent back pain.

It often gets worse this time of year, and the doctors point to a number of reasons.

Back Pain During The Holiday Season

Stress is a major culprit. It tends to make back pain worse, according to Dr. Chen. “People think it’s a happy time of year, but it’s also very stressful,” she says.

“People are running around shopping, they’re trying to meet deadlines. People are stuck in traffic and they’re in their car longer, which may lead to back and neck pain. They’re walking in the mall for hours with heavy packages. It can be an emotional and sad time for people who have lost family members. All of these factors can lead to back pain or make a minor problem worse.”

Even everyday chores at home can cause problems because there’s so much more to do this time of year. “I’ve seen people develop back pain after standing for many hours when cooking for the holidays. I’ve treated patients with neck and hand injuries from frantically knitting or crocheting for hours on end to finish a project for the holidays,” Dr. Chen says.

Research shows that emotional stress or mental pain can turn into physical pain. Depression and stress deplete certain brain chemicals that play a role in controlling pain, according to Dr. Chen. When these chemicals are diminished, pain gets worse.

With so much to do, people also get run down this time of year. “You don’t sleep well, you many not have time to eat right, you don’t have time to exercise. It’s no wonder we see more patients this time of year,” Dr. Moley says.

Drs. Chen and Moley have the following tips to maintain spine health and enjoy the holidays pain-free:

Put things in perspective.

Make sure you’re getting enough rest.

If a package is heavy, ask for help. If you do lift, remember to bend from the KNEES.

Slow down and take breaks. Don’t overdo it.

Stay focused on the task at hand and be mindful to avoid an accident.

Don’t forget to do your exercises and stretching during the holiday season.

Don’t say “I don’t have time to attend to my pain.” Don’t ignore initial symptoms.

If you do develop back pain, the doctors advise resting for two days and taking an anti-inflammatory medication such as ibuprofen. If the pain is not better in two days, or if you have sharp, excruciating pain that radiates down your leg, see a doctor.

Dr. Moley says when you see a physician, the doctor should spend ample time with you, taking a good medical history, performing a physical exam and ordering appropriate diagnostic tests, such as x-rays. “The doctor must spend time with the patient to get to the root of the problem and prescribe the best individualized treatment plan,” he says. “Our goal is to restore function and mobility, and once the patient is pain-free, we encourage him or her to develop good habits to maintain spine health for life.”

Not only are these suggestions good for lessening back pain during the holiday season, they are also good suggestions for the entire year.  Any habits that you can acquire that will improve your back health are to be taken seriously.  So, while having a good time during the holiday season, please also take precautions with your back health.

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Even though guidelines for clinical management of patients with low back pain (LBP) encourage health care practitioners to advise patients to remain active and return to work, most practitioners feel that work factors can cause or aggravate LBP and often recommend a ‘short break from work’ to allow healing.

Back Pain - Time Off Work

According to a new study published in the December issue of PAIN, practitioners believe that there are some aspects of work that are harmful to patients’ recovery and feel that their role in returning patients to work is limited.

Lead author Professor Tamar Pincus, PhD explains:

“Low back pain is consistently among the top most costly health problems. Back pain has been identified as the second main cause of absenteeism in the UK.

Our findings suggest that, despite guidelines that encourage maintaining people at work during episodes of back pain, many clinicians hold a range of beliefs that contradict this advice, and these beliefs can influence their clinical decisions and behaviors.”
In a new study, researchers from the Department of Psychology at the Royal Holloway University of London decided to evaluate work-related behaviors and beliefs in terms of lower back pain in the UK. They surveyed the three professions who most commonly treat LBP after GPs, i.e. osteopaths, physiotherapists (physical therapists), and chiropractors, to measure factors, such as the frequency in which the practitioners visited a patient’s workplace including prescribing exercises the patients could incorporate in their work routine, recommended a break from work for recovery and provided sick leave certificates.

The researchers included the Attitudes to Back Pain Scale for Musculoskeletal Practitioners in their study, to examine the connection between general beliefs about back pain and work-related behaviors, for example, whether practitioner’s limited the number of treatment sessions for low back pain, as well as beliefs that increasing mobility should be a goal of treatment.

They also assessed practitioners’ beliefs regarding the benefits compared with the risk of work to general health and particularly in terms of back pain; the need for patients to take a short break to recover from LBP; the work-related roles of musculoskeletal practitioners, and how the practitioners’ perceived employers’ willingness to help patients with LBP.

Their findings revealed that it was extremely common to advise patients to take absence from work, with 80% of respondents reporting they sometimes recommended work absence to LBP patients and 13% reporting that they do so often or always. Even though 70% of practitioners reported to have never visited the workplace to advise and prescribe ergonomic changes the findings nevertheless revealed that it was common practice with 83% of practitioners reporting they always or often prescribe exercises that can be incorporated into the work routine. Even though recommending a short break from work was common, less than 2% of the practitioners reported that they always or often prescribed sick leave certifications for LBP.

Interestingly, physiotherapists endorsed the benefits of work to help recovery from LBP more strongly compared with osteopaths or chiropractors. Whilst physiotherapists in the UK are employed by the National Health, osteopaths or chiropractors usually work in the private sector. The study also established that a significant number of physiotherapists did not agree with the belief that work can either cause or aggravate pain and that they tended to favor limiting the number of treatment sessions for LBP.

The researchers observed extremely low numbers of reports in which practitioners visited the workplace directly and contacted employers to collaborate with them in order to coordinate actions that support people suffering from LBP to stay at work.

Dr. Pincus states:

“Integrated care at work has shown promising results in earlier clinical trials. If return to work is beneficial to patients and is a primary goal for cost savings, bringing these practitioners on board and altering their perceptions of the individual-employer-clinician triad is important.”

My personal opinion is that if one suffers a severe back injury, then probably a few days off work are probably warranted.  Then after a few days of bed rest, some physical therapy might be necessary to get you back up and on your way to work.  However, I do not believe an extended period of rest is good as your muscles tend to weaken and recovery after an extended period can be more difficult.

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All of us get sore and tight muscles from work or from working out. They usually don’t

Back Health Equipment

goaway unless you to do something to stretch out the cramp, but that doesn’t mean visiting a medical office.

You can do some things at home, just as they’re done by physical therapists. The massage and stretching might need a couple of inexpensive pieces of equipment. I’ve used them myself, with the guidance of a physical therapist.

If any sport hurts you, U.S. Athletic Training Center is the place to get better. Some of the tricks athletes have learned here, they can do at home using three simple devices: the stick, the lacrosse ball, and the foam roller.

Inexpensive, effective and simple is the way to go,” said Gary Guerriero, who runs the place. He discovered these tools about ten years ago.

“I first started using a baseball, but it was too firm and rolled around, so then I used the rubber ball and they had a tendency to stick and were a little firmer,” he said.

A lacrosse ball is perfect. Put it on a cramped muscle and use your body weight to stretch out the cramp. Like a massage, only you’re the masseur. Roll two balls in a towel, and use them to relax tight muscles on either side of the spine.

Brent Milner does triathlons for fun.

“I usually get some sciatic pain, and using the ball will relax the sciatic pain if you’re consistent about it and do it regularly,” he said.

The stick is two handles and a bunch of plastic rollers. You’re actually rolling the muscle and flattening it out so you can get normal length in the tissue.

A travel version of the stick can be thrown in the suitcase and used when you work out on the road.

The foam roller is not for travel, but at home you can roll out spasms or just lie on it after a long day to relax your spine muscles.

“I would think you would need an expensive machine to feel the way I feel. It’s an inexpensive instrument, really,” pro basketball player Nate Brown said.

Another trick to prevent a return of a muscle cramp is after using the devices, strengthen the muscles.

“Once you get relaxation of muscles, you want to train them to work properly,” Dr. Joseph Feinberg, of the Hospital for Special Surgery, said.

Feinberg adds that training muscles with a therapist or other professional is the way to do it correctly. Another lacrosse ball exercise– roll your feet over one after a run. There are some other workouts you can do with the gadgets that you can find on the web. 

We’ve provided links to some of them below.

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Online:

www.performbetter.com
www.power-systems.com
www.thestick.com

So, if your back muscles and your funds are tight, try a little creativity to help loosen up those back muscles and easy your discomfort.  As always, before trying anything too creative, be sure and check with your doctor or physical therapist to make sure you don’t get carried away.

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