A primer on strategies for back pain relief
If you suffer from back pain, either chronic or acute, finding back pain relief is probably very high on your "A priority to-do list". Before we explore strategies for back pain relief, here's a bit of good news. Nine out of ten people will recover from back pain without treatment within the first month. Now for the rest of us...
Back pain relief strategies range from simple tried and true intervention such as heat and cold through the use of brand new medications to surgical interventions. Let's look at some of the more common strategies.
The use of heat and cold in treating back pain is traditional, it's low tech and it often works extremely well. Use cold packs for the first 48 hours to reduce inflammation and relieve pain. Switch to heat to reduce muscle tension and increase circulation to the area.
When you're suffering from pain and searching for back pain relief, it's hard to imagine exercise as a possible solution. However, back injuries often occur due to muscles that are out of shape and returning those muscles to good condition can be a help. Initially, exercise, especially aerobic exercise, causes the body to release endorphins which are the body's natural pain killers. A slow, careful exercise program can condition injured muscles and people who are more physically fit have more pain tolerance as well.
There are many medications that help with back pain relief, either by simply relieving pain or by reducing inflammation that causes tension and pain. Pain relievers such as acetaminophen (Tylenol) and aspirin are commonly used. Second, many people use non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs) to reduce inflammation such as ibuprofen (Motrin), naproxen (Naprosyn) and diclofenac (Voltaren). However, many NSAIDs have been associated with gastrointestinal problems.
A new class of medications - had been developed to manage the pain and inflammation of arthritis without the negative side effects of NSAIDs. Two products, Celebrex® and Vioxx®, were approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and were available by prescription. However, both have now been remove from the market due to a possible role in increasing the risk of heart disease and stroke.
Injections of steroids into muscles and joints can also provide back pain relief in some cases. Read our article, "Back pain treatment is generally very effective" to learn about surgical interventions.
At Back-Pain-Relief-Guide.com find valuable information and resources on the Causes of Back Pain, Chronic Back Pain, Lower Back Pain, Severe Back Pain, and Back Pain Management.
Another great source of information about back pain is the Medline Plus page on Back Pain.
