Developing a Healing Plan for Lower Back Pain
From soreness to pain and even herniated discs, lower back pain can significantly limit your flexibility and productivity. Lower back injuries may be caused by lifting heavy items, ergonomics in the workplace or even direct impact while playing a sport.
After suffering from lower back pain, it is important to develop a healing plan with the help of a professional. Chiropractors are one of the best experts in the industry who can help with lower back pain. As you create a path towards recovery, the following steps will be critical to consider.
1. Take some time to rest
Giving your body a period of rest is essential for pain relief. The more pressure you exert on your lower back, the more your muscles will become sore, tense and painful. Rest could be as simple as not engaging in the activity that originally caused pain in your lower back area. For example, you may take time off playing a particular sport, lifting heavy boxes at work or working on your computer. This time off will allow your muscles and tendons to heal.
2. Seek massage therapy for affected areas
Rest should also be coupled with strategic treatment options in the lower back area. As your muscles begin to heal, massage therapy, hot/cold treatment and light physical activity could help you make a faster recovery. For example, massages improve blood flow to affected tissue and promote faster healing.
Massages also ease tension, stiffness and pain, while cold therapy reduces inflammation in the affected area. In some cases, surgery may be necessary to fuse broken/disconnected discs in the lower back area.
3. Engage in gentle physical activity
Resting should be intertwined with gentle physical activity so as to prevent muscle stiffness. For example, walking for at least 30 minutes a day could improve posture and strengthen spinal muscles. Other activities include jogging, cycling, or light swimming. Light exercise slowly strengthens your lower back and improves blood flow.
4. Slowly build endurance
Full recovery from lower back pain should also come with some element of endurance. In other words, your lower back area should emerge stronger and more resilient to tension, pain and other types of injury. You can build endurance by slowly increasing the intensity of your physical activity routines. Walk for a longer period each day or expand the range of exercises that you perform. Your chiropractor can also help you engage in the right types of exercises that build endurance in the lower back area.
Reach out to a general chiropractor to get your treatment started.