5 Surprisingly Simple Ways to Solve Back Pain

Sharp stabbing, dull throbbing, tightness and aching. It’s a real pain in the… back!

Back pain can be quite intrusive distracting you from your work, disrupting your sleep, and even leaving you completely debilitated. Nearly 80% of Americans will struggle with back pain that is totally avoidable. Often a simple fix will bring relief in no time.

Here are 5 Simple Ways to Solve Your Back Pain:

1. Balance Rest with Activity: rest may be required but try to avoid becoming totally immobile — some activity is needed for blood flow and tissues to heal, while strenuous activity (including any movement that further causes pain) needs to be avoided. Gentle walks, restorative yoga, and stretches can be a safe way to incorporate activity while acute back pain heals.
2. Maintain Good Posture: poor posture accumulates over the years often leading to an “event” that results in back pain. Retrain your body to sit, stand, and move with good posture and you can significantly reduce back pain and risk of re-injury.
3. Improve Strength and Flexibility: all of the muscles of the abdomen, low back, hips, glutes, and thighs work to support the trunk and spine. Being too weak coupled with inflexibility leads to chronic back pain. Click here for my 9 Super Stretches to relieve pain.
4. Meditate, Journal, or Talk it Out:  Emotions can trigger physical pain. Our hips and sacrum hold emotional trauma based on fear and safety. Mediation, Writing, and Talk Therapy can help dislodge emotional pain and invoke a healing response in the body.
5. Sleep the Right Way: the position you sleep in is just as critical as the amount and quality of sleep you get. Try using a pillow to support the spine — back sleepers can place one under their knees while side sleepers can wedge one between the knees. Avoid sleeping on your stomach, which twists the neck and places stress on the spine.

Often back pain is avoidable or easily reversible — however, if you find that it lingers even after applying these 5 tips it may be time to see a specialist who can customize a protocol for relief just for you. Listen to your body. Discern what it needs then follow through.