Here’s the simple system that MUST be followed if you are looking for real, long-term, lasting relief:

1. Identify the cause – nearly all of the treatments people receive for back pain only focus on the symptoms and the health care professionals zoom in on only the problem area. The real key in eliminating back pain is to find out exactly what’s causing the problem… and most of the time it’s not even the back!

2. Address both the cause and the symptom – the best approach is a combination of treating the symptoms for pain relief while also addressing the underlying cause.

3. Be aware – many people suffering from back pain are not in tune with their bodies and during their treatment they do not realize what is working and what is not. In order to achieve long-term relief you have to understand how your body works, what’s causing the problem, and what changes have to be made to correct it.

4. Consistent Focused Action – achieving success in anything requires consistency and focused action. Most people with back pain won’t make the time to work on their problem each day… instead they take pain killers which mask the pain and allow them to cause more damage while they continue with their life.

5. Don’t do what doesn’t work – we already know that most traditional treatments for back pain don’t work…. why waste your time, energy, and money? The real key to eliminating back pain is to identify the true cause of the pain and then address it with a combination of treatments to treat both the cause and symptoms. Over 80% of all back pain is caused by muscle imbalances… NOT a lack of pain killers or surgery! Find out what’s going on in your body and take action.

Because the rest of the article contains graphics and other images, we can’t post it all here. To see the rest of this great article, please visit https://gethealthy.infusionsoft.com. There, you will find the conclusion of this article as well as many others that may help you get rid of your back pain forever.

Low back pain does not discriminate. It affects everyone, at any age, for a variety of reasons. Low back pain affects people’s work, daily routine, and recreation. Americans spend about $50 billion or more each year on low back pain. It is the most common reason for job related disability and is the leading contributor for missed work. Low back pain is also the second most common neurological illness in the United States, with headache being the most common. Thankfully, the majority of occurrences of low back pain disappear within a few days. Others lead to more serious conditions or even take much longer to clear up.

Short-term or acute low back pain lasts from a few days to a few weeks. Acute low back pain is automatic in nature, which is a result from any disorder like arthritis, or from trauma to the lower back. Trauma pain can be caused by sports injury, work in the garden or around the house, or sudden jolts from car accidents or other incidents, or other stress on the spinal tissues and bones. Symptoms of low back pain can range from muscle ache to stabbing or shooting pain, limited range of motion and flexibility, and even the inability to stand up straight. Sometimes, the pain felt in one part of the body can be from a disorder or injury elsewhere in the body. Acute pain syndromes can become much more serious if it goes untreated.

Bone strength and muscle elasticity and tone tend to decrease as people age. The discs in the back begin to lose flexibility and fluid, and that decreases the ability to cushion the vertebrae.

Low back pain can occur when someone overstretches or lifts something that is too heavy, causing strain, sprain, or spasm in one of the muscles or ligaments in the lower back. If the spine becomes overly strained or compressed, the disc that is affected can rupture or bulge outward. This rupture may put pressure on one of more than fifty nerves that are rooted to the spinal cord that control body movements and send signals from the body to the brain. When these nerve roots are compressed or irritated in any way, back pain, including low back pain, can occur.

Low back pain can reflect muscle or nerve irritation or bone lesions. While often times, low back pain follows injury or trauma to the back, it can also be caused by viral infections, irritation to joints and discs, degenerative conditions such as disc disease or arthritis, osteoporosis or other bone diseases, or congenital abnormalities of the spine. Smoking, obesity, weight gain during pregnancy, poor physical condition, stress, bad posture for the activity being performed, and even poor sleeping positions can contribute to low back pain. In addition, scar tissue from a previously injured back does not have the flexibility or strength of normal, healthy tissue. Build up of this scar tissue from previous injuries will weaken the back and lead to more serious injury.

Sometimes low back pain may mean a more serious medical problem. Pain that is accompanied by fever or loss of bladder or bowel control, pain when coughing, and weakness in the legs may indicate a pinched nerve or other serious problem. Diabetics can have severe low back pain or leg pains related to neuropathy. Those with these symptoms should contact their doctor to help prevent more permanent damage.

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The world doesn’t stop for back pain.  That means you may get a few days off because of back pain, but eventually you have to go to work.  The best thing to do is learn some office moves and positions that will keep your spine muscles from tightening and your spine from compressing.  You also want to prevent back pain as much as possible of course.

When you’re at work try doing some light spine stretching exercises throughout the day.  You don’t have to make a big scene.  You just need to do some things like forward stretches, neck rolls and some twisting moves.  You should do these exercises gently though and don’t go overboard with the twisting moves.  The goal is to keep the back limber so it doesn’t tense up.  If you need a new chair that gives low back support, you should show your boss proof you have a back problem.  Most companies go out of their way today to accommodate health problems.

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The best exercises I’ve found for the back include the barbell bent row, the deadlift, the pelvic lift, the leg lift buttock tightener and the double leg lifts.   Though some of these exercises sound like they’re meant for bodybuilders or weightlifters, they are perfect for everyone.  You don’t have to use a heavy weight.  In fact, you can use a phone book if you want.  The main point is you need to make sure you include your back in a regular exercise routine if you want to avoid unnecessary sprains, pulls and tears.

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You have long muscles that run along the spine called the erector spinae muscles.  These are often the guilty muscles when you have back pain and muscle spasms.  A spasm is an involuntary contraction of the muscle for a sustained period of time.  Usually a spasm occurs when the muscle has been suddenly stressed somehow which can include injury, sprains, tears or bruising.  The spasm can actually start in the nerves that lead into the muscle though the feeling is the same no matter where the spasm starts.

Most of the time muscle spasms are painful, but not serious.  It should be mentioned though that in some cases, the spasm may be a symptom of a more serious problem.  The back is composed of bones, muscles and ligaments, and injury or disease to any component can result in back pain muscle spasms.

Back pain and muscle spasms can occur anywhere along the spine from the neck to the lower back.  A spasm can occur once or it can happen repeatedly.  Often the spasm makes the muscle feel sore and tight even after the spasm subsides.  So when you deal with muscle spasms you have two goals.  The first goal is to attempt to prevent the reoccurrence of the spasm.  The second goal is to relive the pain and tension after the spasm.

There are many ways you can approach management of back pain and muscle spasms at home.  First, you should keep moving.  You don’t want to go to bed and lie still, because that will cause the muscle to hurt more.  Light exercises will relieve the muscle stress while strengthening and toning.  Also, you can use an ice pack applied to the area and decrease the muscle spasm pain.  In addition, you should avoid any heavy lifting or moves similar to the moves you were doing before the spasm.

If your back pain and muscle spasms don’t get better with home remedies, you may have to visit the doctor.  Frequently, muscle relaxants are prescribed to relieve muscle tightness.  Muscle relaxants are a short term solution meant to give relief from pain while the muscle heals.   Some people find enough relief by using over-the-counter anti-inflammatory pain relievers.  Many medications you can now buy yourself are what were once considered full prescription strength.  All of the drugs can reduce swelling and increase muscle flexibility.

Other forms of therapy for back pain and muscle spasms include massage or physical therapy.  But one of the most important therapies you can do yourself.  That’s to maintain good posture.  Good posture lets your spine work the way it was designed to work.  Maintaining good posture is important during any activity too and not just while standing.   You should stand, sit, walk and lift while maintaining proper spine position.  This will help you avoid muscle injury and sprains that can lead to muscle spasms.

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When most people think of chiropractic techniques, the standard neck or back adjustment is what comes to mind.  However to understand why chiropractic care is so useful, it is imperative to be aware that doctors of chiropractic have a lot more tricks up their sleeves other than just the famous back adjustment.  Chiropractors treat more areas of the body than just the spine.  These highly trained professionals go to school for in depth training of techniques and when and where they are appropriate, as well as detailed study of how the body works in relation to all aspects of health.  Muscle and bones are just a part of their training.  They also are taught how disease and injury affect each region of the body and how to treat it for optimum healing.  Take a look at some of the chiropractic techniques you may be less familiar with.

One of the most interesting of the chiropractic techniques is known as the applied kinesiology technique.  This one deals with more than just the alignment of the spine and joints.  The placement of the bones can’t be correct unless the muscles surrounding them are in correct placement as well.  Using light massage and manipulation of the acupressure points, chiropractors can encourage normal and healthy muscle function.  This restored balance helps the bones move back into the proper ailment.  This technique is an interesting look at how all the systems of the body work together as one.

Since the spine related adjustments are the most familiar to most of us, here’s a look at some of the spine chiropractic techniques and what they are used to correct.  The Cox flexion distraction is first up on our list.  This technique involves using stretching or traction of the spine to correct lower back pain and misalignment.  The Thompson terminal point technique is another one of the frequently used techniques.  Using a special drop style table, this technique is used to adjust the entire spine.  Another fascinating example of the dynamic of how different areas of the body can adversely affect a seemingly unrelated area of the body is neck pain.  In some cases the Sacro-Occipital technique is used.  The patient lies on their back with padded blocks placed under the pelvic region.  This allows the body to adjust itself and reduce neck pain.  There are hundreds of other techniques chiropractors can use to improve the performance of the body and promote pain relief.  These are just a few.

The various chiropractic techniques are an interesting look at how every area of the body directly impacts its neighbor.  Understanding the purpose of some of the things your chiropractor may do is a good way to reduce fear of the unknown and take a proactive stand in your own health care.

Each of the chiropractic techniques was designed to heal a specific problem.  These techniques help to relieve pain, improve joint flexibility, and increase body function without the use of medications or surgeries.

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The world doesn’t stop for back pain.  That means you may get a few days off because of back pain, but eventually you have to go to work.  The best thing to do is learn some office moves and positions that will keep your spine muscles from tightening and your spine from compressing.  You also want to prevent back pain as much as possible of course.

When you’re at work try doing some light spine stretching exercises throughout the day.  You don’t have to make a big scene.  You just need to do some things like forward stretches, neck rolls and some twisting moves.  You should do these exercises gently though and don’t go overboard with the twisting moves.  The goal is to keep the back limber so it doesn’t tense up.  If you need a new chair that gives low back support, you should show your boss proof you have a back problem.  Most companies go out of their way today to accommodate health problems.

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