Top 6 things you can do today to heal your back

Any constant pain can make life pretty difficult, especially back pain. For many people there is no single or certain cure for lower back pain; it often takes a process of trial and error to find what works best for you.

Traditional medical approaches will usually focus on addressing the anatomical problems in your lower back, but for many people more of a multifaceted approach will do a better job at keeping the pain at bay. So how exactly do you help back pain? 

What are some commonly overlooked remedies?

#1: Get Restorative Sleep

Pain is a leading cause of insomnia. Approximately two-thirds of people with chronic back pain suffer from some type of sleep disorder. Additionally, inadequate sleep can make your back pain worse. This vicious 

cycle makes it ineffective to treat just the pain. If you have sleep problems, you need to get the sleep problems addressed too. Trust me on this, sleep and a healthy body go hand in hand. So try your best to get a good rest!

#2: Exercise Your Core

The muscles in your abs and back play a critical role in supporting your lower spine. These muscles don't get a good workout during the course of a normal day—they need to be specifically targeted through exercise. Weak core muscles can lead to poor posture, which is a huge contributor to back pain. There are many simple exercises that can be performed in 20 to 30 minutes as part of your daily routine, such as:

• Plank

• Dead bug

• Boat

• Ball Pushaway

• Hanging knee raise

• Dumbbell plank drag

• Aerobic exercise

• Massage therapy

• Meditation

Of course there are plenty other core exercises, these are just a few to get you started.

#3: Make sure your quads and hamstrings are firing correctly!

One often overlooked contributor to lower back pain is weak and under firing hamstrings and quads. If your hamstring muscles—located in the back of your thighs—are weak your lower back and sacroiliac joints will be stressed, as other muscles get tighter to try and stabilize your pelvis, leading to more pain. Strengthening the quads and the hamstrings must be done in a very specific fashion in order not to reenforce the compensation that could lead to more back pain.  

We strongly suggest that you seek out a trained Muscle Activation Techniques Specialist or HIGHLY trained personal trainer that can test your muscle to make sure they are firing correctly prior to starting a strengthening program. 

#4: Release Your Inner Endorphins

Endorphins are hormones made naturally in your body. What most people don't know is that they can be just as strong as any manufactured pain medication. When endorphins are released in your body, they help block pain signals from registering with your brain. Endorphins also help alleviate anxiety, stress, and depression, which are all associated with chronic back pain and often make the pain worse. Here are some things you can do to release endorphins:

#5: Hot and Cold

Don't underestimate the pain reduction of simply applying cold packs and/or hot packs to help reduce your lower back pain and spur the healing process.Cold therapyCold application has two primary benefits:

1. It reduces inflammation, which is usually a culprit in any type of back pain.

2. It acts as a local anesthetic by slowing down nerve impulses, which keeps the nerves from spasming and causing pain.

3. It stimulates blood flow, which brings healing nutrients to the affected area of the low back.

4. It inhibits the pain messages being sent to the brain.

# 6. Heat therapy

Heat application has two primary benefits:

1. It stimulates blood flow, which brings healing nutrients to the affected area of the low back.

2. It inhibits the pain messages being sent to the brain.

Heat can come in many forms, and it's best to try several to find what works best for you. Taking a hot bath or shower, soaking in a hot tub, or using a heating pad, hot water bottle, or heat wrap that provides continuous, low-level heat are all ways to bring healing warmth to your lower back.

The Takeaway

In short, there are many remedies that can treat the symptoms of back pain and very few that can get to the root cause. However getting a good sleep, exercising your core, and strengthening some of the key muscles that stabilize your hips are a good place to start.  

I encourage you to check out our website if you want more information about Muscle Activation Techniques. We offer many other programs as well, such as Personal or Group training. I have been a personal trainer for over 10 years now, and have a good idea of what works and what doesn’t. I have also specialized in MAT since 2009, and have helped many clients get treatment and results. If you are interested, I encourage you to get in contact so we can figure out the best way to approach your goals together.