By: Kim Hemphry

About the Author:

Kim Hemphry is a passionate expert in the areas of Legal Matters, learning and education. She has been featured on over 50 leading Legal and education sites and is a modern thought leader in the field. More about her interests and articles on her site – http://kimhemphry.com/.

Because of the potential severity of any back injury, you need to know how to manage the pain and any underlying damage. To do this, you need to keep in mind strategies of pain mitigation that will not further injure you. Additionally, you want to be very careful about medications as pain injuries can result in ongoing pain over the course of months. If you attempt to deal with ongoing back pain via painkillers, you could end up with an addiction that is worse than the original pain.

Finally, whenever you are dealing with a back injury or severe back pain that will not subside, you need to know when it is time to seek third-party advice. If your pain results from an injury at work or perhaps from a car crash, you might even need to determine what to do in order to not undermine any foreseeable back injury compensation.

1. Initial doctor’s visit

For any back pain, you should begin by seeing your doctor. Doing so actually assists you on a variety of fronts. First and foremost, your doctor can assess the underlying cause and prescribe a treatment to get you healthy. Second, he or she will document the cause for future potential litigation. Finally, a physician can provide you time off from work, allowing you plenty of time to heal.

Whenever you are visiting a physician, you need to make sure that any prescribed medication is non-addictive. For instance, some pills are mixed with other medications that help prevent overdosing.

2. Stretching

If your doctor allows it, you should engage in a variety of stretches that can help loosen the muscles and add space between your vertebrae. For instance, gently bending forward and leaning down with your hands out in front of you can allow you to stretch your lower back. As you bend farther, you should reach for the tips of your toes.

While you are stretching, you should ensure your posture does not bounce as bouncing can exacerbate an injury. As you stretch, you should hold the elongated position for a count of 10 to 20 and then gently and slowly raise yourself back to standing position. If you repeat this process several times, you will find that you can gradually reach closer to your toes, which is a sign that both your back and spine are benefiting from the stretches.

3. Ice and Heat

Ice can alleviate the pain associated with swelling. However, heat will increase circulation, and increased blood flow allows oxygen to reach painful areas and alleviate the underlying causes, such as stiffness.

For aid that will last the longest, you can use an electric back heater, or you can even use a chemical-based hand warmer. If you place ice over the painful area and rest with it in place, it can reduce swelling. Reduced swelling can help alleviate pinched nerves. If your pain is chronic, you might need to use a combination of ice or heat pads along with stretching.

4. Rest

Staying off your feet can help your back as the shifting weight of each step as you walk can aggravate injured muscles or compressed discs.

5. Inflammation

Swelling is a sign of an underlying medical problem, and you need to get the opinion of your primary care doctor in order to ensure nothing serious is occurring. For simple inflammation, you can often take over-the-counter pills that are not going to lead to addiction. Additionally, you should adhere to an anti-inflammatory diet to assist your muscles as they return to normal. Anti-inflammatory foods include the following.

– walnuts

– broccoli

– berries

– oatmeal

– beans

– fish

6. Sleep

Healthy sleep can help your back heal from an injury. Additionally, it helps you remain still, reducing the chance you might injure it further. Before bed, you can eat a light snack that is rich with vitamins C and B6. For the best levels of these two nutrients, a fruit salad consisting of a banana, some citrus fruit, and berries can provide nutrition to help you heal. To ensure you get the best rest possible, you can take a melatonin supplement.

7. Back exercises

If your pain is due to stiffness or weak muscles, you might consider strengthening your back. In addition to stretching, you can lift light weights by doing back bends. Before doing weights, you can just bend forward and straighten up again. Doing so will warm up your muscles. When you can easily do 30 or so back bands just by yourself, you can use two-pound dumbbells. Each day, you can do three or four sets, and as you get stronger, you can increase the weight every five days or so.