Loveland Chiropractor shares 3 tips for back pain

Loveland Chiropractor Dr. Kauffman is considered a non-surgical spine expert. Chiropractic physicians have extensive training in treatment and management of back and neck pain without the use of drugs or surgery. Along with chiropractic care there are many things you can do on your own to make sure you are not experiencing more pain than you really have to feel.

Have you felt that sometimes you have bad days and sometimes you have better days with your back pain? This is very common. We would like to eliminate ALL of the bad days, but even reducing the number of bad days, or severity of the pain can lead to a huge improvement in quality of life. So lets look at a few ways to reduce pain at home.

The first tip is taking omega 3 fatty acids daily. The supplement we commonly recommend is a high quality EPA DHA omega 3 concentrate. The benefit of omega 3 fatty acids for pain is that they help to reduce inflammation. Inflammation is often a huge trigger for back pain. Again, reducing inflammation can reduce the number of bad days with back pain.

The second tip is to stretch. Stretching the back and the buttock muscles can make big differences in the tension around the spine. Even if you don’t feel like you are getting much out of stretching, the movement itself is helpful. For back pain in general, being sedentary is the worst thing you can do, so if you can’t exercise due to the pain, stretching or yoga is a great way to get moving.

The final tip for reducing back pain at home is to use ice or an ice/heat combination. For acute pain (like if you fell off your bike and hurt your back yesterday) you will want to stick with ice. As discussed previously, inflammation leads to more pain. Ice reduces inflammation right at the spot. Icing for 20 minutes at a time is recommended for the back. If the pain is chronic (it’s been there for several months or more) you can use ice and heat for 20 minutes each, alternating each hour.

If you would like a formal evaluation of your back from Loveland Chiropractor Dr. Kauffman, please call us at 513-444-4529 or use the appointment request feature.