About 65 million Americans report experiencing recent back pain. However, about 16 million adults experience persistent or chronic pain in their back. Don’t give up hope if you are in one of these two groups.
Your back pain can be manageable or even go away. This guide will help you understand your back pain better and how to approach finding relief.
In this article
Back Pain Causes
Your back is a complicated system of muscles, bones, tendons, ligaments, cartilage, and nerves. If any of these become injured or out of alignment, you can experience pain. In addition, pain can occur from intense activities like accidents and sports.
However, pain can also occur from moving wrong or picking something up off the floor. Then there are diseases, poor lifestyle choices, or genetic complications. If you have back pain, it is best to have a doctor diagnose it and its source.
Will Back Pain Go Away on Its Own?
Some of the time back torment will disappear all alone. Take it easy for a day or two after a minor injury. The body will recuperate itself, and the aggravation will disappear.
Other times, the source of the pain is ongoing, creating pain that will not go away on its own. There are also circumstances where the source of the pain is cured, but the pain continues. This is because the body has reprogrammed itself to continue firing pain signals despite the source of the pain being gone.
Acute Back Pain
Acute pain comes on suddenly, typically from a back injury. For example, you could move wrong, be in an auto accident, have increased stress, or strain your back. Acute pain typically does not last longer than six weeks with no long-term complications.
Chronic Back Pain
Chronic back pain will last longer than six weeks. The pain grows over time and can last for years. It impacts your mobility and enjoyment of life.
The pain can even go away for a time and then come back, and it will still be chronic. For example, you may experience acute pain from whiplash. However, if the pain keeps coming back, it becomes chronic whiplash.
Methods for Relieving Back Pain
If you currently have back pain, pain management methods can deliver some relief. Because back pain impacts everyone differently, not all methods will work for everyone. Don’t get discouraged if a treatment isn’t successful for you.
Keep trying treatment and pain management methods until you find one that works. You may also find that combining treatments and pain management methods gives you the best results.
Physical Therapy
Light exercise and movement can relieve the pain depending on the source of your back pain. Physical therapy is a type of exercise that focuses on improving strength and mobility. A professional physical therapist will create a custom plan that is designed to target your back injury and pain.
For exercises that you can do, start slow and light. As you progress, your therapist will progress you to more challenging movements. Typical back pain physical therapy includes:
- Testing pain tolerance
- Stretching for flexibility
- Posture improvement
- Core strengthening
Lifestyle Modifications
Making lifestyle changes allows you to adapt and overcome your limitations. For example, your back pain may not let you do things as you used to. However, you may be able to find a new way that allows you to continue to enjoy your favorite activities.
In addition, consider changing your lifestyle habits that could worsen your pain. For example, smoking delays healing and increases your perception of pain. Therefore, quitting smoking can reduce the amount of pain you experience.
Alternative Treatments
Some sufferers of back pain find relief in alternative treatment solutions. These include massage therapy, acupuncture, and chiropractic whiplash treatment. These treatments do not use pharmaceuticals to treat pain.
Massage therapy focuses on the muscular system. It will loosen tight or stiff muscles. This can improve your range of movement and circulation.
Needle therapy is an old Chinese practice that utilizes exceptionally fine needles. The needles get placed into specific areas of the body to trigger energy and electrical flow. This manipulation of the body’s energy provides pain relief.
Chiropractic treatment focuses on the musculoskeletal system. This goes beyond just the muscles that massage therapy treats. The musculoskeletal system includes your muscles, bones, ligaments, and tendons.
A chiropractor will focus on correcting your body’s alignment. This can reduce the strain on your body and reduce pain.
Meditation
Living with chronic pain takes a toll physically and mentally. Practicing meditation helps you to deal with back pain more effectively. In addition, meditation can help with the feelings of depression, irritation, and stress that accompany back pain.
To do meditation, you can do so sitting quietly alone. Other options include doing yoga or tai chi.
Medication
In certain situations, medication may be the answer to relieving your acute or chronic back pain. However, before deciding this is your only option, consult your doctor. They will give you a professional assessment of your condition and what they recommend for treatment.
One possible pain management treatment includes injection treatments. These will block your nerves from firing and receiving pain signals. They are typically used for chronic pain when the source is known and meant for use in combination with other treatments.
The other option is pharmacologic treatments. These could be anti-inflammatories, analgesics, or muscle relaxers. Unfortunately, these medications come with risks and side effects.
Opioid medications can relieve pain. However, they should not be the first and only option for managing your back pain.
Relieve Your Back Pain
Back pain can feel debilitating as it impacts almost every area of your life. Thankfully, you do not have to accept this as your new normal. Depending on the type of back pain you have, using a combination of treatment and pain management tools can help you live an active life again.
Browse our other articles for more helpful guides about managing your pain.
