Lower back pains are among the leading causes of absenteeism from work. Up to 80% of adults will experience lower back pain at least once in their lives.
The back muscles and spine support much of the body’s weight. A person uses the muscles for everyday movements, including sitting, standing, and walking. People can also experience pain in other areas, including the neck and middle and upper back.
Over-the-counter pain medications may help relieve pain. Once a healthcare professional has ruled out serious conditions, a person may find home remedies to help manage their symptoms.
Exercises
Exercising is one of the most effective home remedies for back pain. According to Healthline, exercising and stretching can help restore muscles and protect you from future pain. Some exercises that are known to reduce symptoms are:
- walking on flat ground
- standing backbends
- Cobra pose
- press-ups
Take a salt bath
According to the health publication mentioned above, soaking yourself in Epsom salt, or magnesium sulfate for about 20 minutes, helps ease the sore back muscles and is most effective after exercising.
Ginger-green tea
You can also try infused-herbal drinks, such as ginger-green tea, which contains the pain-relieving benefits of both green tea and ginger.
Over a period of time, these anti-inflammatory agents can build up in your bloodstream. So, including these drinks in your daily diet will help reduce overall inflammation and prevent new inflammatory pain.
Cold and heat therapies
It’s best to use cold compresses or an ice pack, not heat, immediately following a back injury, since this can alleviate pain by numbing the area and prevent or reduce swelling. About 48 hours after the onset of back pain, applying heating pads or a hot water bottle to your back may be helpful. The warmth soothes and relaxes aching muscles and increases blood flow, which helps the healing process. Keep in mind that heat therapy is only helpful for the first week.
Take bed rest
Once the mainstay of treatment for back pain, bed rest has fallen out of favour. Doctors now know it’s better to keep moving so that your muscles don’t become stiff. Bed rest can still be a useful relief from low back pain, particularly if your pain is so severe that it hurts to sit or stand. But try to limit it to a few hours at a time and for no more than one or two days. Also, make sure you get enough sleeping time as adults need at least seven hours.
