If you are in your twenties and already experiencing moderate to severe back pain, it's easy to feel as if you are too young to be dealing with this issue. Unfortunately, pain doesn't discriminate by age, and you may find that your back hurts no matter how old you are.
There are, however, numerous things that you can do to help fight back pain no matter how early it occurs. Try putting some of these techniques into action to see if they help lower the amount of pain you deal with.
Exercise
It can be tempting to settle in on the couch or in your favorite recliner when your back hurts and rest it until it feels better.
However, resting a sore back is almost always one of the worst things to do, as it usually leads to more stiffness and greater pain.
Instead, learn about gentle exercises and stretches that are safe for the type of pain that you're experiencing at fitnessabout, then practice them regularly to help alleviate your pain. These gentle movements may help lower the amount of pain you feel and keep you more comfortable.
Ergonomic Chair
It's likely that you spend quite a bit of your day sitting for work, so it's fairly important that you have a high quality ergonomic chair.
The chair that you use will affect how much back pain you experience, so spend some time evaluating ergonomic chairs and selecting one that's right for your height, weight, and the way you work.
This will help alleviate some of the back pain that you experience. If you spend a large amount of time sitting, the amount of support that you provide your body with is vitally important, so make sure you have the best office chair for back pain.
Improve Posture
Your overall posture and the way you carry yourself will affect your pain levels. If you have poor posture, it's likely that you are using your back muscles incorrectly. This can lead to a large amount of discomfort, twisting the muscles, bones, and soft tissues of your back into positions that they are not supposed to be held in. Over time you'll develop knots, discomfort, and pain, and this can also lead to more severe damage or injury. If you have poor posture, it's important to work to correct it on your own or visit a physical therapist for assistance. Something as simple as improving your posture can make a rather dramatic difference, so be sure to give this a try.
Over the Counter Medication
When your back causes you pain, you may also be able to alleviate the issue with over the counter medications. Either pain relievers or topical pain relieving sprays or patches can help lower the amount of pain that you experience, and are typically safe to take.
However, if you are already taking any prescription medications, you should speak to your physician before adding these.
In addition, you'll need to make sure that you aren't damaging other organs by taking too many OTC medications and that the dosage that you're using is safe to use over time.
Antidepressants
Back pain is often a physical symptom of depression. If you suffer from depression and also have ongoing back pain, it may be worth speaking to your doctor or psychiatrist about antidepressants. In some cases, they can dramatically improve back pain. Your medical team will be able to assess your mental and physical health and determine if adding antidepressants to your medication regime makes sense as a method of back pain treatment.
Physical Therapy
Often, physical therapy can help an individual determine what specific area of their back is causing them pain. If there is a specific joint or muscle group that is hurting, the therapist can work with you to strengthen that area of your back, so that it hurts less over time. The exercises may be tedious, but they are typically well worth the effort as they'll dramatically lower the amount of pain that you experience as time passes.
Massage
If the back pain that you're experiencing is caused by tight muscles, massage may be a great solution. A professional massage therapist will be able to evaluate your pain and determine if your muscles are causing it. If they are, the therapist can work out a treatment plan with you to help lower the amount of pain that you are in. It may take a few sessions, but over time the massage treatments will help your back feel more comfortable. This is especially true if your pain and tension are focused in specific areas, like in a single shoulder, across the back of your neck, or in your lumbar region.
Nerve Stimulation
This method involves electronic stimulation of nerves in your back near pain receptors, changing the way that your brain perceives the pain. While nerve stimulation is highly effective for some types of pain, it is not always recommended for chronic low back pain. Its effectiveness will depend on the type of back pain you have and the cause of the pain, so speak to your medical team before depending on nerve stimulation to alleviate your pain.
Steroid Injections
In some cases, doctors may be able to inject steroid medications to help dramatically limit the amount of back pain that you experience. These injections will work for quite some time, but are not a permanent correction and will have to be repeated over time. If you think these injections may be an option for you, it may make sense to speak to your doctor and determine if they are an option for you.
Fighting back pain is difficult to deal with, but you have a wide variety of tools in your arsenal. If you're unsure how to proceed, reach out to your doctor to learn which of these methods is best for you, but don't make the mistake of doing nothing at all, as that will likely only cause your pain to get worse. It's important to take action to treat your back pain, so that you can feel better as soon as possible and get back to your normal daily activities.
