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.