Back pain is a serious problem that many suffer with. It’s not only painful, but can limit you from doing the things you enjoy doing. While there are various ways to help with back pain, such as chiropractic care, there are also a few home remedies you can consider using to help relieve it. Below is more information behind what causes back pain and some natural home remedies you can use to help stop it.

What is Back Pain?

This is a type of discomfort one feels around their spine or back which can range from mild to severe pain. This can be caused by many different problems, such as tingling nerves or a slipped disc. It could also be due to a medical issue.

What Causes Back Pain?

There are quite a few things that can cause back pain.

●    A Slipped Disc

A slipped disc can be very painful as it can press on the surrounding ligaments and nerves. This can cause numbness as well as excruciating pain. A slipped disc can be caused by an injury or general weakness in the area.

●    Muscle Strain

Muscle strain is a common cause of back pain and usually results in mild pain. Muscle strain can be due to you twisting your back and spine in an awkward position or using incorrect posture.

●    Arthritis

Arthritis can occur in the spine and cause severe pain. Usually caused by osteoarthritis, this degenerative problem can drastically hurt your body’s lumbar anatomy. While this usually affects the lower portion of the spine, it can also affect other areas as well.

●    Scoliosis

This painful medical condition is when your spine curves to an abnormal position. This position can cause your spine to press against muscles and ligaments in your back resulting in pain. It can also cause inflammation, nerve damage, and even strained joints.

Factors that Contribute to Back Pain

Below are some factors that can contribute to back pain.

●    Age

Age is one of the most common factors of back pain. Usually, as one starts to reach the age of 40, they will start to feel a slight pain in their back occasionally.

●    Extra Weight

Another factor that can contribute to back pain is extra weight. Extra fat in the body will not only make you feel sluggish, but can distort your spine. Because of this, it can result in spinal pain.

●    Smoking

Smoking can cause many negative impacts to your health, including encouraging back pain. This is because smoking limits blood supply to the spine which can prevent important nutrients from being sent to it. Due to this, your spinal cord will start to become painful and less healthy because nutrients aren’t being sent to the spinal discs in your back.

Natural Home Remedies to Help Combat It

If you’re on the search for some natural home remedies to help stop your back pain, you’ll want to consider the following tips.

●    Try to Exercise

Simple exercises, such as walking, has been proven to help reduce back pain. In fact, low-impact aerobic exercise can prevent inflammation and pressure around the spine. Some low-impact aerobic exercises to consider trying out are using an elliptical machine, cycling, and water aerobics.

You could also consider trying yoga. Yoga will help to keep your body moving while encouraging you to stay relaxed. 

●    Work on Your Posture

Another way to help stop back pain is to work on your posture. While this can be difficult at first, the end result will be well worth it. Keep your shoulders back and aligned with your ears. Also,  keep an eye out on the way you sit and ensure you have proper support. If you plan to sit in a chair often, make sure to move around every 30 minutes to prevent your spine from becoming rigid.

●    Use Hot and Cold Therapy

Hot and cold therapy is a very helpful way to help relieve back pain. Cold therapy (which uses ice) helps to reduce swelling. This is helpful to use once you start to feel back pain happening. Heat therapy (usually through the use of a hot shower or heating pad) prevents inflammation and relaxes tense muscles.

You can choose to use one or both. To do both, you’ll want to carefully alternate between them. For instance, start with cold therapy and keep the cold item on your back for about 20 minutes. Then, move on to heat therapy for about 30 minutes.

●    Keep Moving

While it might seem like sitting down or resting on your bed is helpful for back pain, this can actually make it worse. This is because the muscles and nerves causing back pain will keep tightening. By getting up and moving, you can prevent your muscles from becoming stiff.

●    Drink Chamomile Tea

Chamomile tea is used to help with many medical issues, including muscle spasms. Because of its multiple flavonoids, it can reduce severe inflammation and soreness. While it might take a few days before you start to see results, it’s a helpful natural home remedy to reduce lower back pain. 

●    Change Your Shoes

Sometimes your shoes can be the cause of back pain. This is because your feet are connected to your spine’s lumbar system. Due to this, improper shoes can result in spinal pain. Bad shoes can also cause your spine to slightly shift which can also cause back pain. Because of this, consider changing out your shoes to ones that will keep your spine aligned. You can also use foot inserts to help keep it aligned when you wear your shoes.

●    Change Up Your Diet

If you suffer from back pain, you should also look to change up your diet. This can help to not only relieve any pain you might be having, but also prevent it from becoming chronic. An anti-inflammatory diet will consist mainly of fruits and vegetables. These include:

• Carrots
• Beets
• Watermelon
• Sweet potatoes
• Cherries

In addition to this, you should also try adding herbs and spices to your meals, like rosemary, garlic, and curcumin. This is because they contain pain-relieving properties, such as diallyl disulfide, which stops inflammation and keeps your bones and tissues strong.

You can also try to use more olive oil and almonds in your diet which contain high levels of antioxidants and Omega-3s.

●    Use Vitamins and Minerals

Vitamins and minerals are also a helpful natural way to relieve back pain. One of the best to use for back pain is Vitamin D. Vitamin D is what helps to keep bones strong while preventing inflammation. In fact, it’s believed that most back pain is caused due to a lack of Vitamin D in the body. Due to this, definitely consider taking Vitamin D supplements.

Other helpful vitamins and minerals include:

• Vitamin C – keeps your immune system strong and decreases inflammation.
• Vitamin E – stops muscle pain and helps with circulation.
• Vitamin B-12 – helps with keeping your nerves healthy and reduces symptoms from chronic back pain.
• Calcium – keeps your bones strong and prevents the development of osteoporosis.
• Magnesium – helps with muscle and nerve functions while preventing muscle spasms.

Back pain can be very problematic, but with home remedies, you can easily calm its symptoms and prevent it from constantly occurring. By keeping the information above in mind, you can be sure you’ll be able to combat back pain in a simple yet natural way.

Article by Dr. Wells 
Dr. Wells is the founder of Better Health Chiropractor Wasilla AK.  He belongs to both the American Academy of Spine Physicians and the American Chiropractic Association.