Take Care of Your Back

Here are a Few Good Tips to Help Your Lower Back Pain:

1) Release Your Inner Endorphins
Endorphins, hormones made naturally in the body, can be just as strong as any manufactured pain medication. When endorphins are released in the body, the help block pain signals from registering with the brain. They also help alleviate anxiety, stress, and depression, which are all conditions that are often associated with chronic back pain.

Try the following activities to release these feel-good messengers:

• Aerobic Exercise
• Massage Therapy
• Deep Breathing
• Meditation
• Acupuncture
• Laughing & Smiling
• Eating Dark Chocolate
• Listening to Music You Love
• Being Social

2)Get Restorative Sleep
Out of all medical conditions, pain is the number one cause of insomnia. Approximately 2/3 of patients with chronic back pain suffer from sleep disorders. Paradoxically, inadequate sleep can make back pain worse. This vicious cycle makes it ineffective to treat just one of the problems. Both the sleep problems and the chronic pain need to be treated.

There are many options for treating sleep problems that accompany chronic lower back pain:

• Medication
• Relaxation Techniques
• Psychological Techniques
• Cutting Back on Caffeine
• Eating the Correct Foods
• Getting the Right Amount of Exercise
• Writing Your Worries Down

Try a combination of these suggestions. These approaches work best. 

3) Exercise Your Core
The muscles in your abs and back play a critical role in supporting the lower lumbar spine. These muscles don't get a good workout in the most people's normal day. Consumer Reports reported that in retrospect, 58% of people with back pain wished they had done more back strengthening exercises.

There are many simple exercises that can be performed in 20 to 30 minutes as part of a daily routine.

Bonus Tip: find activities that make you happy

Ongoing pain can wreak havoc on your life, affecting your cherished relationships, finances, and/or productivity at work and at home. It can also interrupt your sleep and destabilize your mood. Because many other problems commonly occur along with chronic lower back pain, anything you can do for yourself that is a natural anti-depressant will help.

Some people find that even doing just 3 things that make them feel good each day, such as enjoying a good cup of coffee, talking on the phone with an old friend, walking the dog, or receiving a 30 second hug from a loved one can make chronic pain more tolerable.

The tips in this blog are simple ways to help your spine and back stay in alignment and maintain a stronger, healthier you. Even if you are in severe pain and are undergoing extensive medical treatments, we encourage you to still try to remember the simple things you can do for your back to help it heal and get stronger and healthier over time.