Managing Back Pain and Taking Control of Your Body

As a sufferer of back pain for a few years now, I have a lot of empathy for you. I quickly discovered that many general practitioner physicians do not know how to effectively treat chronic back pain. So the answer for many people is a chiropractor. I have been to several of these and, like anything else, there are good ones and bad ones. I have had my share of bad ones, let me tell you!

My back pain stems from sciatic nerve damage and flares up once in a while. The pain is excruciating to the point of talking my breath away, causing a fever, loss of sleep, general discomfort in any position and hyper-perspiration. As you can see, it is not at all pleasant and the only real treatment I ever received was therapy, which did about zilch in the long term.

The Doctor May Not Understand Your Back Pain

Every doctor I saw for my back pain said the same thing. Pain management, ice packs and general rest were the extent of what they could do. Apparently, sciatic nerve pain is untreatable except by pain management. This is what I was told by chiropractors and general physicians alike. As this is the 21st century and the age of the information superhighway, this caused me to do some research and take control of MY situation. You can do the same.

Do Your Own Research Before calling a Doctor

Most back pain stems from a muscle problem. Period. So if you work on the muscle tone in your back, the pain eventually either decreases or goes away entirely. I started working on core exercises and stretching techniques I learned from a physical therapist. This helped build strength and flexibility in my problem areas. I still have a level of back pain, but it is manageable and I can live with it. I will never be pain free and I accept that as my fate.

Back Pain can get WORSE with Heat Pads!

Then (when I went to a chiropractor the last time), I found out that using heat on a sore muscle is the WRONG thing to do. Heat expands a muscle that is already inflamed. This can actually cause MORE damage and worsen the pain. I use ice packs when the back pain gets a little much. Twenty minutes on, twenty minutes off and in 24 hours I am back in the driver's seat.

Now this is what works for me and may or may not work for you. What I can tell you is that you are ultimately the one who can take the reins and stop the pains! Learn all you can about your individual situation and what you can do on your own about it as I did. Even if you have insurance, the bill will add up quickly and get out of hand just as quickly.

The bottom line is that you will never find a single doctor or chiropractor that can handle the entire situation. That type of specialist just does not exist, so you end up seeing 3, 4 or even 5 different doctors and/or chiropractors.

Take ownership of your body and do what you can to learn how to lessen your back pain. Doctors and chiropractors have their place and may be required sometimes, but for the most part, you can take care of your back pain on your own.

Another thing I recommend is to check out the weird little "weight lose" video (it's a short but extremely powerful weight loss tip), then visit Jeff Anderson's site that's filled with more tips and videos on how to lose weight fast.

Three Damaging Lifestyle Mistakes That Are The Cause Of Back Pain

Back pain is endemic in the modern world; I even know a friend who takes his two year-old to a chiropractor for adjustments on a bi-monthly basis. Like a migraine, the first time you have back pain you hope and pray it's your last. Much light has been shed on the issue of back pain as attributed to your lifestyle- you'll be stunned at these three mistakes you're making to control your back pain.

Back Pain Can Be Attributed to Stress!

Are you stressed out? Chances are you feel stress in some form or another. Truth be told, a certain degree of stress in your life is actually a good thing. It can be a "stimulus" of sorts that pushes us and leads to personal growth. The stress I'm talking about, however, is created from negativity. Negative or excessive stress in your life takes its nasty energy out on your back.

How do you differentiate bad stress from good?

Bad stress derives from bad relationships- especially with those we refer to as having a 'victim' mentality. You know him: everything that is wrong in his life is somebody else's fault and the complaints never cease. A "friend" like this will literally tie you up in knots- which manifest themselves in your lower back! If you are suffering from back and find yourself surrounded by people with negative energy, alas! - You have just diagnosed one damaging lifestyle mistake. This type of stress is the number one back pain aggravator according to modern experts.

Are You Exercising Too Much?!

You'll never believe I'm asking you this, but are you exercising too much? I hate to rattle your cage, but it's a valid question. Hey, exercise can be fantastic when it is implemented correctly. The problem is when you push yourself to work out seven times a week with no rest. If your body is repeating the exact same motions every single day you're doing more harm than good to your back, and your muscle-building efforts. Exercising without rest periods will sometimes leave you in MORE pain that the couch potato. The flip side is that person who LITERALLY does nothing all day long. These are sedentary people may feel pain when they move so they make very little movement and their bodies are, in fact, slowly deteriorating. They aren't only becoming fat, but their muscles turn into blubber. In a nutchell: Balance Your Lifestyle to fight Back Pain!

Foods Contribute to Back Pain, Too...

This is one lifestyle mistake that people don't often enough review as they diagnose their back pain; the foods you ingest DO relate to your back pain. Just as exercise and stress bus be balanced, so must your diet cater to balance your body's needs. We always hear that we 'are what we eat'. We don't recognize the affects food has because they are internal. However, back pain is often the result of foods that cause inflammation leading to intense pain in our backs.

Another thing I recommend is to check out the weird little "weight lose" video (it's a short but extremely powerful weight loss tip), then visit Jeff Anderson's site that's filled with more tips and videos on how to lose weight fast.

When Sitting Becomes a Pain in the Back

Have you ever stood up from an extended period of sitting only to find that it is extremely painful to stand all the way up? Do you have this type of pain anytime you spend an hour or more sitting? If so, I completely understand what you are suffering through. I have experienced pain that results from sitting as well, especially when I sit for very long periods of time. Since I have to sit while at work, you can imagine the amount of pain I have to deal with on a daily basis. It can be completely crippling and eventually will start to interfere with your daily life. So, what can we do about this type of back pain?

What is the Cause of Your Back Pain?

Before you can do anything about this pain, you have to understand what the root cause may be. If you are like millions of other people who suffer pain from sitting, you are suffering from something called "muscular imbalance." This simply means that some muscle groups in your body have been overworked while others have not been worked enough. This occurs when you are sitting with many muscles in a relaxed position while using other muscles in other areas of the body. These imbalances can be quite painful and are likely the cause of your pain experienced after sitting.

Treat Back Pain from the Root of The Problem

Now that you know what the root cause of your pain may be, what can you do about it? For starters, you can learn some stretches that target your hip flexors, lower back, and hamstrings. The hamstrings are stressed out by a lot of sitting because they are support for the knees, which must remain in a bent position a lot of the time when sitting. The hip flexors are naturally going to suffer as well because they are supporters for the hips which also are bent when you sit. The lower back also suffers quite a bit because it supports the entire body and is right in the middle of all muscle groups, which means those muscles get stressed out quickly.

The Muscles At Work in Your Back Pain Dilemma

Now, think about what your abdominal muscles are doing in comparison to the work your lower back when in a seated position. Your back is contracting harder and harder along with those hip flexors and hamstrings, but your abdominals are just chilling out. They might as well be relaxing on the beach with a margarita for the amount of help they give that lower back. This is where the muscular imbalance comes into play. You have back muscles being overworked with muscles in the front not really working much at all.

Everyday Trick to Relieve Back Pain

Stretching is a great start, but this is not where relieving lower back pain from sitting ends. You have to change the way you work and live every single day so that muscle imbalances are less likely to happen. This means you have to get up and move around more often, rather than sitting for hours on end. You can always find something to get up and do for five minutes even if you are working or in a hurry to get things finished at your desk. Any type of exercise that strengthens all the muscles throughout your body will also help as fit, trim muscles are stronger and more effective at supporting the sitting position. Finally, try experimenting with different ways of positioning your legs while you sit so you aren't always in a completely bent position at the knees and hips.

Another thing I recommend is to check out the weird little "weight lose" video (it's a short but extremely powerful weight loss tip), then visit Jeff Anderson's site that's filled with more tips and videos on how to lose weight fast.

Back Pain in the Morning

You may be one of the multitudes of people who have back pain first thing in the morning. In some cases, you might find that this pain is worse just once you get up and begins to dwindle as the day goes on. While the theory that the pain can be handled with a mattress is optimistic, your bed actually makes only a slight difference in preventing back pain in the morning.

Your Diet Affects Your Back Pain

It may shock you to know that a dietary change can be the simplest solution you have to heal back pain naturally. The idea that our diet can affect the amount of back pain we experience in the morning seems strange, yes. Imagine that when you sleep your muscles tend to grow stiff from lack of use, which leads to back pain. Foods in your diet can help to increase the tension that builds in the body. For example, caffeine has the ability to cause both inflammation and stiffness in your body, most notably your joints and your muscles. Of course, you will also find that both wheat and gluten can have similar effects, so I would suggest you consider keeping track of those in your diet as well. Dairy has also been linked to back pain. The problem isn't that dairy is bad for you, however it is the heavy processing due to homogenization and pasteurization of this food that makes it hard on your body. I would recommend that you seek out raw milk products if you have back pain but want to continue consuming dairy.

Dehydration May Cause Back Pain

Hydration plays an important role in whether or not you wake up free from back pain, as well. You may have been told that merely 8 glasses of water a day should suffice. It is advisable to consider, however, that you may simply be a lot larger than the child who was told to drink eight glasses per day... Eight glasses is a good start, and more than most people drink as it is. Depending on your activity level as well as the amount of mass you have, your water needs might actually be higher than that. So keep that in mind when you are looking to increase your water.

Stretch Your Way to a Better Back

Stretching is of utmost importance to waking up with less back pain. Few people will argue with the fact that they need to stretch more. If you take a few minutes and stretch before bed, you reduce the probability of experiencing back pain when you wake up. That makes it one of the most important things you can do before you go to sleep at night to wake up feeling refreshed in the morning.

Another thing I recommend is to check out the weird little "weight lose" video (it's a short but extremely powerful weight loss tip), then visit Jeff Anderson's site that's filled with more tips and videos on how to lose weight fast.

Hidden Causes Of Lower Back Pain

A common misconception about back pain is that it derives from some previous injury. In actuality, the real reason behind your back pain is likely something you never would have guessed. Your body is very resilient and not likely to persistently bother you with something it is capable of healing itself, so we need to take a moment to look at other areas your pain could come from.

Hidden Causes Of Lower Back Pain

Once you start to experience pain, it is typically the result of several issues that have started to work against you. If you are just bending over and feeling pain or a sudden movement begets back pain, it likely isn't because of the bending over or the sudden movement. Rather, it is probably from an imbalance that has occurred in your body.

Hidden Cause Of Lower Back Pain #1:

If your back pain isn't because you fell off a bike when you were five or from that fender bender in the parking lot last year... what is it? Well, let's look at an example from another muscle group: the quadriceps. The muscles in your thighs, hamstrings and in your back are all designed to work together when you move. However, when one of these muscle groups starts to grow stronger than the others, this can create an imbalance in your body. It can even cause you to experience pain in your body. This pain may actually derive from an imbalance in your torso and go all the way down your hips verses one specific area.

Hidden Cause Of Lower Back Pain #2:

Trigger points may be another factor in your persistent back pain. Many doctors will prescribe physical therapy and cortisone injections to help with back pain, but I find that these are only temporary cures for the problem. Instead, trigger points can play a role in this process for many people. Most people aren't aware of it, but in their bodies there are trigger points that are located in the gluteal area. When they are triggered, they will show up on your body as pain in your lower back. You may find that no matter how much focus you put on fixing your lower back pain, it still won't go away. The solution to this may be fairly simple. Find the trigger point and apply pressure on it for 10 seconds to a full minute. Your body should then start to relax and you will notice an instant reduction to the pain. If toxins have built up, then you will need to increase your fluid intake to help reduce them from your system as well.

Hidden Cause Of Lower Back Pain #3:

Sad to say your emotions may also play a part in your back pain. When you feel emotional pain you don't realize that what hurts in your mind can also cause your body to hurt. Doctors will verify that your emotions may be leading to you feeling pain in your lower back, as well. It is advisable to look to heal your emotional pain and watch how it energizes and coaxes the entire body. They say that you can put mind over matter and it's encouraging to know that our bodies are inclined to work comprehensively to deal with our emotions and respond with little warnings for us that lead to our overall health.

Another thing I recommend is to check out the weird little "weight lose" video (it's a short but extremely powerful weight loss tip), then visit Jeff Anderson's site that's filled with more tips and videos on how to lose weight fast.