At this moment, about a quarter of adults in the United States have back pain, so you’re not alone, no matter how isolated your pain can make you feel.
At the start of a new year, it’s tempting to adopt new practices and habits to improve your life, and living with less back pain is a resolution worth considering for its long-lasting benefits.
As back pain specialists, Savitri Gopaul, FNP-BC, and our team at Commonwealth Pain Management and Wellness can help you get a handle on back pain, which is sometimes a notoriously difficult condition to treat.
Today, we highlight three ways you can reduce the amount of back pain that interferes with your daily living. Contact us as soon as home care isn’t enough to ease your suffering.
When back pain hits, knowing how to respond may have a tremendous impact on how severe the pain gets and how long it lasts.
The most obvious first response is also the correct one. Stop what you’re doing and rest your back. In the first 24 hours after a back pain episode begins, cold packs are your best alternative to reduce inflammation and pain.
After the first 24 hours, switching to heat loosens spasming muscles and restores flexibility. You can use heat on its own or alternate with cold packs.
Use over-the-counter nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories to reduce swelling and manage pain through the early stages of a back injury.
Perhaps the most far-reaching and multifaceted strategy for reducing back pain is changing your lifestyle. Consider one or more of these approaches:
One pound of extra body weight can exert about 4 pounds of compressional force on the spine. Given this ratio, even modest amounts of weight loss produce significant reductions in back pain for many of our patients.
Your body is made to move, and though back pain can limit your desire to exercise, bearable low-impact activities like walking and swimming promote healthy blood flow and preserve muscle tone, key factors in your body’s natural healing mechanisms.
Some foods (sugar, for example) encourage systemic inflammation. Others provide the opposite effect. Add whole grains, fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, omega-3 fats, and specific antioxidants like turmeric, berries, nuts, and seeds.
Our team at Commonwealth Pain Management and Wellness can diagnose your back pain condition and choose from a wide range of modalities to address your pain, specific treatments that aren’t available from a pharmacy or other retailer.
For instance, we offer a range of injectable therapies including trigger-point injections and pain-relieving options. We can facilitate third-party care and follow up with you through every stage of treatment.
Contact us at Commonwealth Pain Management and Wellness in Richmond, Virginia, online or by phone when back pain interferes with daily living. If back pain is a problem, book your visit now.
