Knock on wood, I have never experienced true, unrelenting back pain. I'm an avid exerciser so I guess my efforts to some degree have paid off, and on top of that I just think I haven't put my back a serious risk. I do warm up before I exercise and I make it a point to cool down and stretch, even briefly when I'm done. My posture is decent and though I can be pretty adept at lifting or moving heavy boxes and even furniture and testing my stregnth - I think i've just been lucky.
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Back pain is one of the most feared pains. Somehow you can get pretty sore quadriceps or biceps or shoulders from exercising - even super sore abs from alot of effective crunches - and you'll suffer but assume it will resolve. Find yourself with back pain and it's a whole other story. It seems to affect everything you do, it is often debilitating and confounds treatment, it can become chronic so easily and it can really affect your quality of life. Exercise is actually recommended to help ease back pain - after the acute phase - and yet most people shun the exercise for fear it will make the situation worse.
Some people swear by massage, accupuncture, boi-feedback, yoga, meditaiton and deep breathing - others claim more forgiving water aerobics can help while others just turn to pain medications.
My thoughts are that you need:
- Evaluation to determine what might be the cause
- An initital treatment plan that involves icing, then alternating icing and heat, anti-inflammatory medication, gentle stretching
- A plan that slowly helps to stregnthen that susceptible area (lower, mid or upper back)
- Functional exercises that can at minimum get you engaged in movements that you need to perform daily in life
- A hopeful attitude and an open mind to try different modalities of treatment till you find your personal treatment plan
- A support group
Do you suffer from chronic back pain? Is it getting you down? Do you have a "relief plan" that worked??