When you are suffering from back pain, it’s important to see a medical specialist in order to find relief. But what do you do in between visits to your Snellville chiropractor for your back pain?
You can benefit greatly from a dynamic approach that will relieve the pain you’re feeling and help you get better.
It just takes a little know-how and self-motivation.
Empower Your Endorphins
Just what are endorphins?
These are hormones that your body creates to balance your body chemically and make you feel good. It’s the runners high – or the feeling you get when you’re speaking in front of a crowd and it’s going well.
Endorphins block pain, help you to reduce stress, and eliminate depression. In addition, endorphins help you to deal with chronic ailments.
The way you get more endorphins is by exercising, having a , or meditating.
Get The Sleep You Crave
Exercise can’t make up for sleep deprivation – that’s because pain makes it hard to sleep. In fact, it’s one of the main causes of insomnia. While exercise may make it easier to sleep by moving the pain away from you, you’ll get further more quickly by sleeping enough hours each night. This is upwards of 7-8 or more hours per night.
It depends on your body. But keep in mind that for all of the people who say they can function on 6 hours a night, most of them really can’t – and they don’t even know it.
Pain in the body is an indicator that your sleep schedule needs tweaking.
Strengthen Your Abdominal Core
Your abdominal muscles are important. They support your lower spine and have to be targeted separately during your workout. (Although if you can be mentally present, you can practice having them slightly tightened throughout the day.)
One idea is to sit upright on an exercise ball for up to 30 minutes a day. This will help you work your abdominal muscles.
Remove Pain with Cold and Hot
Cold and hot packs offer you therapy that will reduce inflammation and provide you with a local anesthetic by slowing the nerve impulses that cause muscle spasms and pain. (Heat will increase blood flow and bring nutrients to the area that is in pain to promote healing.)
Some ways to get heat onto your body are to take a hot shower, use a hot tub, hot water bottle or a heat pad. The best way to get cold is to use an ice pack – even one that you make yourself with a Ziploc bag and a towel.
Stretch the Hamstrings
Tightened hamstrings actually lead to back pain. It’s a reminder that almost everything in your body is connected – the tighter your leg muscles are, the more pain your back may have to endure. Stretching exercises are the best remedy and will provide you not only with pain relief, but also with increased health and dom of movement.
There are many other ways that you can ward off back pain – from back exercises and nutrition, to learning how to control your thoughts about pain…Consider that people who visit a chiropractic clinic are more likely to heal their back problems than those people who rely on home remedies alone.
For more information about how you can strengthen your back and find innovative pain relief, call AICA and visit our clinic in Snellville.