Back Pain - Pain Relief Or Prevention
Back pain is something that happens, at least once, to just about everybody and the pain can be very intense. There can be many reasons for this, that go from inherited back problems, to bad posture and poor habits, to lifestyle, work practices, injuries and accidents or as a result of physical exercise. Another typical one is lifting things up the wrong way.
There are two aspects of back ache you should always look at. The first, though not in order of importance (but yes in order of priorities when the urgency is upon you), is pain relief. When the pain is there, when all your thoughts and energy is focused on the pain, you have to do something about it and the most important thing, there and then, is pain relief - getting rid of it!
The other, more important but less urgent, is preventing back pain. Unfortunately most people only look at prevention after the event. Hopefully after a bout of intense back pain, and as a result of therapy, they will adopt a lifestyle that includes some basic posture habits, exercise regime and healthier practices.
When the pain is acute you will want immediate relief a sort of "just make it go away" and this means that there tends to be an over dependence on pain relief medication. When the pain is there, medication can be part of the solution, but you must be aware that this does not cure, or get to the bottom of the problem. The reason we feel pain is because that is our body´s way of telling us that something is wrong. If we just eliminate the pain, and obviously enjoy the relief this brings, we have effectively shut out the warning signals. The back ache will return, perhaps with higher intensity and making a cure that much more difficult.
Back Alignment and Posture.
A very common reason for back pain is bad posture that results in stressed back muscles, and causing the back to be misaligned. This affects the legs, hips, shoulders, neck and of course the back. There are natural alternatives to help you correct this that include massage, exercise for the back muscles - and among the most effective and simple to do is back stretching.
Although it sounds childish the typical early morning stretch with your arms horizontal and moving to the rear, as you arch your back, tense your muscles, and give a tremendous yawn is, not only delightful but good for your back.
We spend a lot of time sitting down in front of a desk, or worse, slouched on a couch and have grown accustomed to ignore our postures. This slouching, the bending of the lower back, places a lot of strain on the muscles, that somewhere down the line will send a painful message.
The focus should be on the search for the cure, the pain, instead of avoiding it temporarily with drugs - therefore the priority is the diagnosis, what is causing the pain. Natural, gentle methods of adjustments, including massage and exercise therapy are your best bet and this way only very rare cases will reach such intensity that surgery is required.
Once the cause of pain is identified and cared for, the number of treatments will decrease gradually and provide almost constant pain relief
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