Back pain is a common problem that affects many people—more than 80% of adults will experience an episode of back pain in their lifetime. It can cause you to experience sharp or dull pain in your back, neck, buttocks, or groin area. The good news is there are many things you can do to relieve back pain quickly and prevent it from returning.
What Causes Back Pain?
Back pain is caused by various things, including injury (such as from lifting heavy objects), muscle spasms, or strain due to overuse or repetitive activities such as sitting at your desk all day without taking breaks from sitting down every so often.
Another common cause of back ache is arthritis which may develop in adulthood due to wear and tear on joints throughout life but also because some people inherit genes that predispose them towards developing osteoarthritis earlier than others.
How Can I Treat Myself – Try These First!
If you have milder forms of lower back pain, such as discomfort when stretching after sitting too long, try the following first
- Get proper rest between periods spent standing upright, which should include plenty of sleep each night and regular exercise sessions during waking hours (which could include walking outside).
- Also, wear supportive footwear instead of barefoot-style shoes like flip-flops while walking around town. These offer no underfoot support, which adds stress onto joints such as knee capillaries, etcetera.
Get your spine in alignment.
One of the most important things you can do for your back pain is to get your spine into alignment. Even if you don’t have much in the way of chronic pain, it’s still a good idea to keep an eye on how well-aligned your body is at night when sleeping and sitting or standing upright during the day.
One way to do this is by using a pillow or rolled-up towel under one shoulder while lying on your side. This will help keep your neck straight and support both sides at once. If this doesn’t work for you, there are specially designed cervical pillows available online that also help keep the neck straight while sleeping with no problem!
Try some other positions.
If you are experiencing back pain, try some other positions. For example:
- Lie on your side with a pillow between your knees. This helps to relax the lower back muscles and relieves pressure from nerves in that area.
- Lie on your stomach with another pillow under the small of your back for support (called “prone relaxation”). This can help relieve pain caused by muscle tension or arthritis by relaxing the muscles of the lower back and abdomen while stretching them out simultaneously.
- Lay flat on your back with a rolled-up towel under each hipbone (or wherever they feel tight). Then lie still for 10 minutes or so until any discomfort subsides before getting up again–you may find this position particularly helpful if you’re having trouble falling asleep due to an uncomfortable mattress!
Stretch and strengthen your core muscles.
Strengthening your core muscles is a great way to relieve back pain. Your core muscles include the abdominal wall, lower back, and gluteal muscles (the butt). Strengthening these areas will improve posture, which can help reduce stress on your spine and help you move fluidly through daily activities without putting pressure on your back.
For example, when you reach up high with one arm while holding something in the other hand, this movement will likely cause strain on one side of your low back because it’s not balanced out by an opposing muscle group being stretched on the other side of your body. However, if both sides are strengthened equally, no excess tension would be placed on either side, causing more harm than good!
Here are some simple exercises that target key areas:
Use a heating pad or ice pack.
To help relieve back pain, use a heating pad or ice pack.
- Heat: Heat can relax tense muscles and increase blood flow to the area, causing discomfort. If you have stiff or sore muscles from working out at the gym, applying heat will loosen them up and make it easier for you to move around without experiencing any pain. However, if your back is hurting because of an injury (such as falling down stairs), applying heat may worsen things because it might cause inflammation in those areas.
- Ice: Applying cold therapy directly onto the affected area can help reduce swelling while numbing any nerve endings causing pain and helping with relaxation.
Improve your posture.
Posture is an important factor in maintaining a healthy back. If you need to figure out what good posture looks like,
- Stand up straight and ensure that your head is aligned with the rest of your body.
- Your shoulders should be rolled back and down, not hunched up towards your ears; this will help prevent tension in the neck muscles.
- Your hips should also be level or slightly higher than they are wide (this sounds counterintuitive, but it’s true).
- Finally, keep both feet facing forward rather than turning one outwards or inwards, as this will put more pressure on one side of the pelvis than another, leading to pain over time.
If you have poor posture while sitting down,
- Try using an ergonomic chair that supports good alignment while working at a desk – this includes adjusting armrests so that they can easily be lowered without sacrificing comfort during long periods of sitting!
- Additionally, consider investing in a support pillow for under-the-back support if needed; these are especially useful if spending hours at work and feel stiff after returning home later in the evening. The sitting position tends to worsen over time due to a lack of movement throughout the day due to breaks taken away from desk chairs every hour.
Conclusion
Your back is a complicated part of your body, and many things can cause pain and discomfort. The good news is that there are plenty of ways to treat it! If you’re experiencing back pain right now, try these tips.
