When discussing pain, back pain is a good place to start. Back pain is one of the most common types of pain, with almost 20% of people reporting long-term back pain according to Dr. Steven Griffin and Vito Pauletic of thefitbay.com. Additionally, the back carries a lot of the rest of the body making it more prone to fatigue and injury.

Different Types of Back Pain

The back has a lot to do in holding your body and assisting with movement throughout your day. The back is made up of tendons, muscles, nerves, bones, and more to provide a wide range of activity. There are a number of causes for back pain. Trauma, such as an accident or sports injury can lead to issues, as can overburden, such as a repetitive movement or poor techniques. Another common cause of back pain is mechanics, when an individual moves, whether it be walking, running, lifting, or any other movement, in an incorrect pattern. Posture can lead to some back issues, as can mental or emotional disorders. Further, there are structural issues, like bulging or ruptured intervertebral discs, neural tension, or other components of your physical structure that, over time, can lead to ongoing back pain. Symptoms may range from pain anywhere in your back to pain extending to your hips, shoulders, or limbs, trouble sleeping or restlessness, inability to sit or stand, decreased range of motion, or more.

Prevention Techniques

There are several ways to help prevent back pain from occurring. First, moving, both for strength building and for overall circulation and flexibility. Taking breaks throughout your day to stretch and move is helpful to keep you limber. Improving your posture is another great way to prevent back injury. Look to improve your ergonomics and make small tweaks to ensure your hips and back are supported. Posture carries over slightly to your sleeping position, while we each have ways we prefer to sleep, we can assist that with our pillows, mattress, and blankets or other items to help support us while we sleep. When you need to travel for a long distance, take frequent breaks to move and stretch, with breaks coming more frequent as the trip extends. Lastly, be careful of how you lift large or heavy items. As thefitbay.com claims, “[t]he spine is capable of sustaining incredibly high loads, and our muscles can provide the stability needed to lift very heavy objects.” The issue is we frequently lift improperly. Keeping your back straight, activating your hips and knees to use your legs, and making sure to engage your core are just a few ways to help prevent injury to your back.

How Republic Pain Specialists Can Help

Republic Pain Specialists want to help you get to the root of your back pain. Sometimes the location of the pain is difficult to pinpoint. We seek to discover exactly where your pain is originating from to treat it as quickly as possible, instead of using a trial and error method. This means we have to value the input of our patients, asking them questions and listening to their answers as they describe their symptoms. From there, our procedure would differ depending on the patient. We may look at scans if we feel certain types of injury are likely. Other patients may benefit from methods like Botox or other injections to target sources of pain. We frequently recommend the prevention techniques from above to help patients avoid debilitating back pain in the first place. We are also equipped to refer our patients to a yoga specialist or other member of the health community to work on strengthening or to explore other options altogether.

Republic Pain Specialists want each member of our community to be functional and pain-free. We have a variety of ways to help achieve that, each with the goal of a pain-free experience without the use of opioids while avoiding surgical intervention. To learn more about our techniques, contact us or come see us today.

Sources: https://thefitbay.com/complete-back-pain-guide/