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Almost everyone experiences back pain at some point in life due to a variety of factors from age and injury to body composition and genetics. However, there’s nothing in medical science that says you must endure back pain as long as you keep yourself healthy and don’t become injured.
Understanding the reasons why you may develop back pain can help you avoid surprise trips to the medical center, as well as reduce the time you must spend in pain management clinics. If you are injured, you can make the most of your time at your physical therapy clinic by understanding your back pain and its causes.
Here are some facts you should know about back pain, so the next time you have a backache, you might know what caused it and how you can avoid future back pain.
1. Smokers often have back pain.
You already know that smoking is a huge health hazard, but did you know that smokers tend to have much higher rates of back pain than non-smokers? As if cancer and premature death weren’t enough, smoking also impacts the blood flow around your spine, which, as a smoker, means you might experience an injury more easily than someone who doesn’t smoke.
Evidence suggests that smoking leads to fewer minerals in your bones and brittleness that can impede your recovery from injury or stress. Smokers experience inflammation and back pain that can be caused by something as simple as the incessant coughing smokers often experience after years of maintaining the habit.
2. Stress can cause back pain.
Injuries are a common source of back pain, but you can experience a backache even if you weren’t in an accident. If you lead a stressful lifestyle, or you experience prolonged stress, your body’s muscles will tense up and cause a variety of pains like stiffness, as well as unexpected fatigue and an inability to get a good night’s sleep.
Consider the stressed-out person who is in pain each night and can’t sleep. He or she wakes up tired every day, and the fatigue makes getting through each stressful day even harder than it would feel with a good night’s sleep. Scientists also believe that stress can increase the likelihood that someone will develop an inflammatory disease, which can result in excruciating back pain.
3. Rest isn’t always a cure-all for back pain.
Sleep is the body’s number one way of recovering from sickness, but resting too much can actually prove detrimental when you’re trying to recover from or eliminate back pain. Some studies have shown that bed rest isn’t always the best solution for back pain and that too much rest can actually make your recovery take longer.
Adopting an active lifestyle or attending a physical therapy clinic may serve you better than getting extra rest in bed. Adequate sleep and a comfortable bed that supports your back are essential for overall health, but reducing the impact of back pain means keeping active or finding new activities to ensure the swiftest recovery.
4. Sometimes manual therapy is better than painkillers.
Modern medicine has brought us some incredible painkillers, and those drugs are a necessary part of some illnesses and recovery. However, the standard drug treatment of paracetamol for back problems might not be the most effective option for relieving pain. In fact, one study showed that the drug didn’t reduce recovery time or reduce pain.
Interestingly, research has also shown that some over-the-counter drugs aren’t exceptionally effective at relieving back pain either. Some medical professionals advocate “manual pain-relieving therapy,” which means working with a chiropractic clinic, an osteopath, or a physiotherapist for injury recovery or back pain treatment.
5. Back pain isn’t always caused by an injury.Image may be NSFW.
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Poor posture, lack of exercise, and excess weight can cause back pain, so it’s not necessary that you experience a traumatic event like a fall or car accident to experience back pain. You may want to visit your family practice center if you experience any of the following problems:
- Severe back pain that doesn’t go away after a week
- Unexplained weakness or numbness anywhere in your body
- Pain that radiates down the leg
Sometimes, back pain actually goes away on its own, but if you have experienced any of the issues above, it’s important to get in touch with your family medical clinic or consider working with a physical therapy center like Pro-Care Medical to ensure full recovery.
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