Tips to Beat Back Pain

Preventing back pain is surely easier than treating it. Besides the recommendations already covered above, which included getting chiropractic adjustments, Foundation Training, Egoscue exercises, and NST, below are several more tips for beating back pain. With this many alternatives available, there are few good reasons to turn to pharmaceutical or surgical band-aids that do nothing to treat the underlying causes of your pain, but might cause additional harm in the process:

1. Exercise and physical activity will help strengthen the muscles of your spine. Make your exercise time count by includinghigh-intensity sessions. You probably only need this once or twice a week at the most. You’ll also want to include exercises that really challenge your body intensely along with those that promote muscle strength, balance and flexibility.
2. If you spend many hours every day sitting down, pay careful attention to consciously sucking in your belly and rotating your pelvis slightly up. At the same time make sure your head is back with your ears over your shoulders and your shoulder blades pinched. This will help keep your spine in proper alignment. You can hold these muscles tight for several minutes and do this once every hour. The upcoming interview with Esther Gokhale will go into far more details.

Also, to combat the detrimental health ramifications of excessive sitting, make a point to stand up at least once every 10 minutes. In addition to regularly standing up, I also do a few squats while I’m at it. To learn more about the importance of regularly getting out of your chair, please see my interview with Dr. Joan Vernikos, former director of NASA’s Life Sciences Division and author of Sitting Kills, Moving Heals.

1. Optimize your vitamin D and K2 levels to prevent the softening of the bones that can often lead to lower back pain.
2. Ground yourself. Grounding yourself to the earth, also known as Earthing, decreases inflammation in your body, which can help quiet down back pain and other types of pain. Your immune system functions optimally when your body has an adequate supply of electrons, which are easily and naturally obtained by barefoot/bare skin contact with the earth. Research indicates the earth’s electrons are the ultimate antioxidants, acting as powerful anti-inflammatories. Whenever possible, take a moment to venture outside and plant your bare feet on the wet grass or sand.
3. Address psychological factors. Few people want to be told that their pain is psychological or emotional in origin, but there’s quite a bit of evidence that backs this up.

Underlying emotional issues and unresolved trauma can have a massive influence on your health, particularly as it relates to physical pain. Dr. John Sarno,4 for example, used mind-body techniques to treat patients with severe low back pain and has authored a number of books on this topic. His specialty was those who have already had surgery for low back pain and did not get any relief. This is one tough group of patients, yet he had a greater than 80 percent success rate using techniques like the Emotional Freedom Technique (he has now retired from practice).

1. Get regular massage therapy. Massage releases endorphins, which help induce relaxation and relieve pain.
2. Keep your weight spread evenly on your feet when standing. Don’t slouch when standing or sitting to avoid putting stress on your back muscles.
3. Always support your back, and avoid bending over awkwardly. Protect your back while lifting – this activity, along with carrying, puts the most stress on your back.
4. Wear comfortable shoes. For the ladies, it would be good to not wear heels most of the time.
5. Drink plenty of water to enhance the height of your intervertebral disks. And because your body is composed mostly of water, keeping yourself hydrated will keep you fluid and reduce stiffness.
6. Quit smoking as it reduces blood flow to your lower spine and your spinal disks to degenerate.
7. Pay attention to how—and how long—you sleep, because studies have linked insufficient sleep with increased back and neck problems. Pay attention to your sleep position. Sleep on your side to reduce curving of your spine, and stretch before getting out of bed. A firm bed is recommended.

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