Millions of people suffer from back pains, with an estimated 80% of adults dealing with some form of back pain during their life. Living with chronic back pains make life very difficult, impacting mobility that makes everyday activities challenging, not to mention being constantly in pain.
Thankfully, most back pains can be naturally treated. Surgery is rarely needed, while medication only offers temporary relief, so natural methods are always worth trying out.
In many cases, you can relieve most of your back pain through the natural process, giving some much-needed respite and letting you go about your day without any troubles.
Here are seven ways to naturally relieve back pain:
Exercise
The idea of treating backache by working out may seem counter intuitive, yet the right type of exercise can offer a lot of relief and reduce the pain over the long-term. A combination of cardio and strength exercises can increase muscle flexibility throughout the back, reducing both inflammation and pains.
Strengthen your core muscles is a great way to reduce back pain as it helps to increase lumbar support, reducing the amount of strain on the back that often leads to pains. Exercises that increase flexibility in back tendons and ligaments help to increase your range of motion, reducing a lack of mobility that comes with chronic back pain.
Also, any type of exercise results in a release of endorphins that act as natural pain killers, while certain cardio workouts will increase blood flow to back tissue, aiding in quicker recovery when muscles are damaged or strained.
Yoga
As mentioned, certain exercises that improve flexibility are great for reducing back pains, with yoga being one of the most effective in this regard.
The reason yoga is so great for back pain is that it helps to strengthen the back while also stretching it to improve flexibility in muscles and joints in your back. It also helps increase core strength and posture, both can reduce and prevent back pains.
For example, the downward dog is a common yoga position that stretches back muscles. Using this position helps to reduce pressure and tension built up around the lower spine, which is a leading cause for lower back pains.
Stretching out hips and the back are great ways to reduce the chances of hurting your back too, as improved flexibility ensures there is less chance of straining a muscle that results in back pain. There are many great yoga positions worth trying out to reduce tension and improve flexibility in the back, so make sure to try them out for long-term natural treatment.
Related Topic: 8 Easy Tips To Help You Reduce Back Pain And Stay Fit
Regular Massages
Getting a regular massage is another great way to naturally treat back pain. The first way this helps is by allowing you to relax and unwind, increasing endorphins that can reduce back pain almost immediately.
As research from
Spa-hotels.ie shows, a massage improves blood flow, relaxes the muscles, and lowers muscle tension, all of which work together to significantly reduce back pain. It’s important that the massage therapist knows you need help with back pain as it allows them to focus on specific muscle areas that are causing the issues.
A Good Night's Sleep
Irregular and restless sleep is bad news for your back. For example, when we sleep our bodies reduce hormones that are needed to complete cell repairs in our muscles, so a lack of good or regular sleep impacts the production of these hormones.
When sore back muscles don’t have time to fully repair, they offer less support to keep the spine properly aligned, so the soreness won’t be going away anytime soon. Also, a lack of good sleep reduces the bodies pain threshold, so backache becomes noticeably more painful.
A Suitable Mattress
Considering that we spend around a third of our life sleeping, it makes sense to get a comfortable mattress that gives a good night’s sleep and help reduce back pains. A good mattress helps improve sleep quality, which can be a key factor towards reducing back pain, while also helping to reduce the pain by adjusting your sleeping position.
For instance, if your mattress doesn’t offer enough support you may find your back joints aren’t in a natural position, resulting in tension and pain the next day. Soft mattresses may appear comfier, but they could be doing your back pain more harm than good!
Old mattresses also lose their natural shape, meaning your back doesn’t get the support it once did so could face more pains than normal. Never overlook the importance of a good mattress when looking to naturally treat back pain!
Staying Hydrated
While it may not be the cause of your own back pain, dehydration can result in backaches by removing water in the small discs of the spine, which are almost entirely made of water.
When dehydrated, these discs shrink in size and make the back more susceptible to strains and pains as there is less protection. Seemingly innocuous impacts and movements could lead to significant back pains just through dehydration!
A Hot Bath
Taking a hot bath helps to relieve back pain in a few different ways. For instance, the heat from the hot water helps to relax sore muscles and joints, reducing the overall pain and making you feel more comfortable. You’ll feel less stiff and more flexible, further lowering back pain once you’re out the bath.
Another way that a hot bath helps is by keeping you buoyant. When the back is floating in the water, there is less pressure on the areas of tension, reducing the pain and helping you to relax. When combined with the heat from the water, back pain becomes significantly lower.
