Is Your Lifestyle Causing Back Pain?
Nov 01, 2022
Back pain is a common complaint. Sometimes you feel pressure in your upper back or a pulling sensation in your neck. You might feel back pain extending to your lower back, arms, or legs. These symptoms might be chronic or acute.
Chiropractic, Rehab, and Sports Injuries of Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky, offers cutting-edge integrative care for all kinds of back pain. Chiropractor Michael Young, DC, and his team create individualized care plans to address acute or chronic back pain and any accompanying symptoms. Dr. Young ensures that each patient feels valued while providing evidence-based holistic care.
Back pain occurs at almost any age and affects both young and old people. Physical activity and a healthy lifestyle are important for recovery and prevention.
Poor nutrition, stress, obesity, and growing older are some reasons you might experience back pain. Fortunately, making lifestyle adjustments is the easiest way to manage back pain.
Manage the stress in your life to reduce back pain. When you experience pain, your body releases stress hormones, causing muscles to tighten. Tense muscles reduce blood flow to tissues, causing them to receive less oxygen and nutrients.
There’s no way to avoid stress, but you can learn to manage it. Meditation and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) are excellent tools. Seeking therapy can help change the way you perceive stress, and meditation can reduce anxiety, provide focus and serenity, and reduce pain.
Make physical activity a habit to reduce or eliminate back pain. Exercise is essential for good health, but movement is also critical to recovery. Make gradual progress from a less active to a more active lifestyle by starting with an activity you enjoy.
If back pain makes movement difficult, try starting with walking, swimming, or chair yoga.
Even a little bit of exercise every day can make a significant difference in your health and pain reduction.
You can use food as medicine to ease back pain. Inflammation is a primary cause of many kinds of chronic pain, so it’s a good idea to stay away from foods that cause it, including processed foods, sugar, flour, and refined carbs. Instead, consume a diet rich in vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients.
Eat plenty of colorful veggies and get plenty of lean protein every day. Include healthy fats from seeds, nuts, olive oil, and wild salmon. Avoid candy, pies, cakes, and other carb-heavy meals that include lots of pasta and breads.
Sleep allows your body to heal, which you need if you experience back pain. When you don’t get enough sleep, your body releases stress hormones that reduce your pain tolerance and worsen existing back pain. Poor sleep hygiene exacerbates other health issues, like making it more difficult to control glucose levels if you have diabetes.
To get the best sleep every night, practice good sleep habits. Put away smartphones and turn off the TV for at least one hour before bed. It’s also helpful to go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, even during the weekend. Keeping your internal clock regular will help you sleep great every night.
At Chiropractic, Rehab, and Sports Injuries of Louisville, Dr. Young treats back pain using a range of natural therapies. To reduce your pain and any other symptoms you may be experiencing, our team may advise one or more of the following methods:
After finishing treatment, Dr. Young will leave you with the tools and knowledge necessary to prevent back pain in the future.
Back pain is not always the sign of a more serious illness that requires a doctor's visit. There are often relatively harmless causes like muscle tension due to a lack of exercise or incorrect posture. However, you should visit a doctor to be on the safe side.
Contact Chiropractic, Rehab, and Sports Injuries of Louisville by phone or online to learn more about your treatment options today.