Stretching Exercises to Treat and Prevent Back Pain

If you experience mild back pain, or are prone to feeling tension in your lower back muscles or spinal column, vertebrae and joints, a regular exercise routine can help you strengthen your back and prevent the pain from returning. Depending on your specific back injury, a spine specialist in Chennai may recommend a specific back exercise to target the affected area. Together with your doctor, you can decide on what back exercises you can implement into your work out routine.

A great way to relieve tension in your back muscles and create flexibility is by stretching. Regularly stretching the muscles, ligaments and tendons in your back builds strength and can prevent injury and pain. Chronic back pain sufferers may find that a daily stretching routine will significantly reduce the amount of pain and can make it stop altogether.

Make sure to stretch all the muscle groups that are associated with your back. The muscles in your buttocks, or gluteus muscles, are important in spinal health because they support the flexibility of your pelvis and hips. A great stretching exercise that targets the gluteus muscles can be done a chair while sitting straight with your bottom a few inches forward and your feet flat on the floor. Squeeze the gluteus muscles together and hold for several minutes. You can do this exercise anytime you are sitting in a straight-backed chair.

The piriformis muscle can irritate the sciatic nerve and cause pain in your lower back. An exercise to stretch the piriformis involves lying flat on your back, flexing your right knee and grasping it with your left hand and pulling it toward your left shoulder. You can then grasp your ankle with your right hand and pull it outwards. Then repeat this exercise with the opposite knee, pulling it towards your right shoulder.

Another stretching exercise for the lower back strengthens the Psoas Major muscle. Kneel with one knee on the floor, the other knee bent and the foot flat on the floor. Lean forward and tighten your hip and gluteus muscles. You will feel a stretch in the front of your hip. Hold for 30 seconds and repeat with the opposite leg.

Your hamstrings are important in supporting the weight of your body and giving you correct posture. To stretch these muscles, stand in front of a chair or a bench. Place one foot on the chair, while keeping your torso on the elevated leg and slowly back the other leg away until your feel the tension in your hamstring. Hold this position for 30 seconds, and then repeat with the other leg elevated.

Be sure to consult with your spine doctor before starting any back or lumbar stretching exercises. These exercises should only be done after seeking professional medical advice.

Backache Symptoms and Relief

Burning backache especially in the lower back takes many forms and can result from many conditions and causes. Usually the cause could be from a fall or a person has lifted a heavy load. Some backaches could be the result of illness or spinal deformity. Often enough burning backache comes on gradually and it is not easy to diagnose the cause. 

Back pain could be acute or chronic. Poor posture is one of the main reasons for chronic burning backache. Nervous tension, improper footwear, slouching, sleeping on a very soft mattress, female pelvic disorders, rheumatism, slipped disc, sciatica, degeneration of the spinal column, arthritis and other bone diseases are some of the other reasons which are the cause of back pain.

The symptom for a backache or burning backache depends upon the cause of the problem. If your back has had an injury or strain, stiffness, muscle cramps and spasms may result. The pain usually creeps up slowly or suddenly in the lower back or the buttocks which can be aggravated by further injury or movement which will last for 2 to 3 days and then gradually it will decrease over the next few days. 

Sciatica is the worst pain you could get. It can come slowly or suddenly and sends a shooting burning pain from the buttocks down towards the leg and the foot. Usually one leg and foot is affected. The other indication of back pain is tingling, numbness and weakness in one or both the legs. Smoking is another cause of backache causing malnutrition in spinal discs. Usually smoking affects people with small stature. When backache persists it is time to go to the doctor for a check up. Who knows the pain could be due to a minor condition only.

If the burning backache is a mild one then relief may be possible by taking aspirin, vitamin s B1, B6 and B12 under the guidance of a neurosurgeon in Chennai. Rest and sleeping on a hard bed will give immense relief from backache. 

Application of a heated pad will also give much wanted relief from the pain. Back pain can also be avoided by wearing low heeled shoes, observing correct posture while sitting, using chairs with proper back rest, adjusting work surfaces height and using a pillow behind the back when on long drives. 

Extra support may be needed for car seats. Avoid sitting on soft heavily padded chairs. Be careful in lifting or carrying heavy loads. If you have to lift a heavy load use your strong leg muscles. The correct method is to keep the back straight and bend the knees till you are low enough to grasp the load you want to lift. 

Then raise the load and yourself slowly by simply straightening your legs. You should also avoid bending too much forward while ironing clothes especially for the housewife. Willow bark can also be used to reduce pain and inflammation. If still burning backache persists then spine surgery may be the option.

What is the Best Chronic Pain Treatment?

If you're suffering with chronic pain or an acute pain episode from time to time you may have seen your doctor to try to get some pain relief. You may have found that your doctor was not trained in pain management. Others may have found that their neuro specialists weren't sure about what treatment they could give them that would stop, diminish, control or get rid of their pain.

Your pain may be in your back, lower back, chest, abdomen, leg, shoulder, stomach, knee, hip, foot, head, arm or ribs. It could be nerve, muscle or joint pain or any combination of any of these or another area of pain. It may or may not be part of a disease or condition or due to a traumatic injury.

In any case there are certain approaches for chronic pain that are used among western doctors and traditional medicine and then there are approaches that are used by naturopathic doctors.

In any case you may find your neuro specialist not sure whether or not to give you a prescription for opioids - which are medicines or drugs such as morphine, Percocet and Vicodin. The doctor may have some reluctance to do this and many want to seek more natural and less invasive methods.

But if the pain is severe they may feel obligated to stop it or try to stop it even knowing the possible consequence - the consequence being physical dependence, outright painkiller addiction or adverse reaction and possible side effects. Drugs just mask the symptoms to a degree but don't do any healing, another downside.

If you're seeking a naturopath they may want to try alternative medicine methods for pain such as herbal remedies and acupuncture. Acupuncture is being used much more often these days for acute pain and chronic pain but may require repeated and possibly expensive treatments to stop or control pain if at all.

Most conventional doctors are family practitioners and not able to keep up with current pain management techniques. They come to rely on painkillers and other drugs to stop chronic pain in their patients.

Even some studies that have been done have been stopped midstream, because the patients in the study were experiencing too much pain to continue. Herbal remedies and supplements have not been adequately tested for the long term to determine if they will work. This is ironic because better pain management may be why alternative medicine is often tried.

Unfortunately there is no good answer and it's up to the chronic pain patient to find their best pain management treatment. This may require visiting several doctors and related health professionals, often assembling together a team of acute or chronic pain management professionals. However although doctors are still struggling with the best pain management there are still many natural treatments you can do yourself to get the best chronic pain treatment and relief.