Back injuries can be incredibly intrusive conditions that affect every aspect of your daily life – not to mention cause you excruciating amounts of pain.
Unfortunately, because the back is such an integral part of the body – both in physical movement and for the nervous system, it can be easy to unwittingly cause further damage.
Therefore, you will need a clear understanding of what actions you should be taking to heal a back injury and what you should avoid at all costs.
Naturally, there are countless different types of back injury – which will affect your recovery time, as well as the approach you take to healing it. For example, a slipped disc will not require the same amount of urgent medical attention as a broken back.
Therefore, you should always follow the specific advice of a medical professional who can give you guidance that is tailored to your injury.
Nevertheless, there are several key tips that you can incorporate into your back injury recovery, especially if your injury is relatively mild – such as a sprain.
Here are some top tips for healing your back injury:
Research non-intrusive treatment methods
Back injuries can be incredibly uncomfortable, causing substantial disruption to your daily life. Tasks as simple as bending down to tie your shoelaces, carrying shopping bags, or standing up out of bed can become eye-watering and painful.
Naturally, this can soon start affecting both your personal and professional lives. If you can’t drive to work or pick your children up from school, for example, then it is imperative that you receive medical attention quickly.
While it might be tempting to search for the easiest route to recovery at this point, it is crucial not to cause further damage to your body through intrusive treatment options.
For example, if you have suffered a herniated disc and you think that surgery is the fastest way to solve the problem, you should also consider stem cell treatment, such as that available from bioxcellerator.com.
Stretch regularly
Many minor back injuries are caused by bending over or reaching for something with the wrong posture, causing a torn muscle, a sprain, or slipped disc.
Working on your innate flexibility can, therefore, reduce the chances of a back injury (or injuries in other parts of the body). This is especially important to keep on top of as you age because humans lose flexibility as they get older.
While this is of no help if you’ve already suffered a back injury, you can help to heal it by progressively stretching your body during your recovery period. This will prevent your back muscles from seizing up or causing postural issues.
It is critical that you approach this process carefully to avoid causing further damage, so consider working alongside a physio who can help instruct you on the correct stretching techniques.
Cold therapy
If you have recently felt a twinge in your back and suspect that you have injured it, then applying ice to the affected area could help reduce the inflammation.
This is effective in the first few days after an injury, but it should be regarded more as a technique to reduce pain and inflammation than an outright cure for your affliction.
Get active
Once the worst of your injury recovery period has passed (and you have received professional medical attention if necessary), you should begin to resume normal active tasks.
By slowly becoming more physically active, you will pump more blood around your body, further improve your flexibility and, crucially, improve your mental state.
