9 Tips for Recovering From a Back Injury

Back injury is so common that it affects millions of people across the globe. It can be triggered by a car accident, lifting heavy objects, or straining oneself. The problem with is that it doesn’t easily go way, not even with painkillers. Failure to attend to a may result in serious health problems in the long term. So what do you do?

Here are 9 tips for recovering from a back injury that you may find useful:

1. In order to adopt the proper recovery therapy from a back injury you need to figure out what type of injury you have sustained. Mainly, you need to assess how bad the injury is, or determine whether it is acute or chronic. Acute pain comes and goes and usually heals within one month to a month and a half. Chronic pain on the other hand will not go away and usually lasts as long as 6 months.

2. When you have just suffered a back injury, it is a good idea to spend at least a few days in bed until the pain becomes reasonable. Experts do not recommend staying too much in bed as it will stiffen your back and slow down the healing process.

3. Apply cold therapy immediately after you have sustained your back injury. Cold therapy only works in case of acute pain and it is effective right after the incident. Avoid heat therapy in the first three days following your injury, as it may lead to inflammation and not to healing.

4. Use heat therapy only after the third day. Try to focus on the core area of the injury and apply moist heat in short sessions of 10-15 minutes. Heat therapy is quite effective in relieving tension in the muscles and ligaments while relaxing muscle spasms that can be really, really painful.

5. Each back injury has a core area where the pain that seems to invade your entire back originates. Sometimes you are tempted to think that your entire back hurts. The first step to recovery is to identify the core area of injury and start a gentle massage along the spine focusing on that particular zone.

6. Sometimes you cannot recover from a back injury all by yourself and it becomes time to see a professional doctor. If the pain is so severe that you can’t walk and you can hardly feel your legs, don’t wait for the pain to go away. Get to a hospital.  Do not attempt to drive yourself, make sure to have somebody drive you.

7. If the pain persists, go to a physiotherapist or chiropractor. There are physical rehabilitation methods for all kinds of back pain. Seeking professional help is the ideal way to handle the situation.

8. Yoga or Pilates may turn out to be a good idea when you suffer from chronic back pain, these two types of physical exercises are said to stretch the back and speed up recovery. Stick with beginner classes, and try to. You can also replace Yoga and Pilates with gentle back stretches each morning. Consult with your therapist about practicing these exercises.

9. Try acupuncture, an alternative treatment known to be effective in back pain relief. The Chinese consider acupuncture analgesic and it may therefore prove a good solution when struggling with throbbing pain.