Back Pain Therapy

If you're looking for back pain therapy, there's some basics you should know right off the bat.

First, back pain is nothing to fool around with. If you're suffering from persistent, acute back pain, then it's imperative that you don't self-diagnose and instead get to your physician or physical therapist as quickly as possible. Your back is home to your spinal cord, which means that if you do the wrong thing you can end up paralyzing yourself and losing all sensation from your waist down. It's not something to be taken lightly, and a doctor or physical therapist can tell you what you should or shouldn't do.

Now when it comes to back pain therapy, the first step is probably going to be stretching and loosening up your muscles. Ninety-nine percent of all back pain is caused by twisted or knotted muscles, and these are things that you can get taken care of on your own if you are so inclined.

When it comes to stretching, it's best to have an exercise ball that you can lay down on. Put your feet flat on the floor about shoulder width apart. Then sit down on the ball with your rear slightly forward of the middle. At that point lean back, gradually drawing yourself into a position where you're parallel to the ground. Hold this position for a count of thirty, then slowly sit up. This is a great back pain therapy that can not only stretch your back and stomach muscles, but also strengthen them at the same time.

Now, the above is only recommended for muscle problems, not for other more sever back problems. My father-in-law, for example, herniated a disc in his back several years ago. A herniated disc is inanely painful, and stretching as described above is not the correct back pain therapy for this malady and can actually cause the pain and damage to become more severe rather than more manageable.

Think of a herniated disc this way: Your discs are like bean bags nestled between your vertabrae in your spinal column. The discs protect your vertabrae by providing padding, keeping the bones from rubbing against each other and protecting your spinal column. When a disc is herniated, it tears or pops, spilling out its contents into the spinal column. This in itself is painful, but the real pain starts when the contents of the disc come into contact with the myriad nerves attached to your spine. The pain suffered then is, in the words of my father-in-law, "beyond excruciating."

It's imperative, then, that the back pain therapy you get is specifically aimed at dealing with the problem you're suffering from, not the problem you "might" have. That's why going to a professional first is the key.