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Back Pain Relief Ain’t Easy Sometimes
When it comes to back pain relief, a visit to the chiropractor has to be on the list, in most cases. Although we’re ‘not real doctors’ 
To become a chiropractor one must do so by national licensing and national board certifications…not to mention a 4 year bachelor’s degree and 4-5 years of doctoral training in a professional accredited chiropractic university. (Including cadaver lab at 7AM for a year 
) And people wonder why I don’t want to go see “Body World’s.”
Since back pain relief is so elusive, personally, I like to bring in “All the king’s horses and all the king’s men” to battle it. Most of the time, that’s what it takes.
You get knocked down 7 times, we stand up 8.
There are some home remedies like a topical analgesic, l use Biofreeze. It can provide temporary pain reduction, but by no means is it a cure. Analgesics like aspirin or Tylenol are often recommended for low grade back pain relief, but unfortunately this option rarely treats the actual CAUSE of the pain. It’s highly unlikely that your pain is coming from a LACK of aspirin or Tylenol flowing in your veins.
Back pain causes..
Back pain is caused by various conditions and a proper diagnosis will determine proper therapy. To get a good idea of what’s causing your discomfort, make a journal of the physical things you do the most. Sitting, driving, sleeping, whatever and review how you are performing them. Example: Today I was driving and the car in front of me looked like their was a passenger driver was in the very middle of the car with no driver. As I pulled up next to him and looked, the driver was slunk over so far that his head was in the middle of the car! God forbid he get rear ended in a position like that…ouch!
Pain relief should start with first knowing what’s causing the pain. Too many doc’s just use the ‘shotgun approach.’ The most conservative options such as manipulation therapy, physical therapy, massage, ice or heat should be attempted first.
Acute and chronic conditions can offer a different approach for back pain relief. Overuse injuries are often chronic in nature. This being the case, the management of your condition will become more of a process than an event. Sometimes you can expect immediate relief, but often times injuries result in tissue damage which will lend itself to a treatment plan that isn’t an overnight miracle, although we take them when we can.
Things to consider when seeing your Denver chiropractor are not only how long you’ve dealt with low back pain, but also how you my have injured your back. Mechanism of injury and daily activities give your doctor a better idea of how the injury was sustained. In knowing this, the doctor can offer better recovery options for you. In this case, knowing the past can give clues to preventing the spinal pain from coming back.
Things to consider regarding back pain relief:
- How old is your mattress?
- What kind of shoes do you wear? (Check back for a blog post on the “best shoes for back pain” soon)
- How much core exercise do you do?
- What’s your posture like? (Like right now?)
- When was the last time you sat and performed back pain stretches for 20 minutes?
- How much water do you drink? Let me guess.. “Not as much as I should.” (I’ve heard that one a few times)
- Do you eat a lot of boxed or packaged foods? (They’re inflammatory, you know)
- Omega-3 fatty acids in your diet?
- Are you taking a magnesium supplement? Most should be.
- Look at the amount of stress you’re dealing with. Most people have no idea how much stress contributes to physical pain.
Here’s a big one that most people have no idea about…Statin drugs are also a HUGE contributor to back, neck and joint pain! I’m seeing it more and more. Patients get off the statins and low and behold… back pain relief!
**As always, remember we serve Denver, Lakewood, Englewood and all of Littleton.
