Lower Back Pain – 5 Steps to Reduce Pain at Home

If you’ve ever endured acute low back pain, you’re probably well aware of how painful and uncomfortable it can be. One very common variation of lower back pain is sciatica, which is a pain in the leg caused by irritation of the sciatic nerve in your back. This can cause you to experience tingling in your leg, and it may be coupled with some degree of pain as well.

If you become bothered by an episode of severe low back pain or sciatica, there are some things you can do to help restore normalcy to your lower back. For the most part, these kinds of pains are not dangerous, but when your back pain is accompanied by leg weakness or loss of bladder control, it’s advisable for you to seek chiropractic treatment at the earliest opportunity. For simple lower back pain, here are some steps you can take right at home.

Don’t overreact

When you feel the onset of lower back pain, you might have a tendency to panic or become extremely worried, especially since the pain might interfere with walking or sitting down. Keep in mind that most lower back pain and sciatica will go away after a short period of time, generally within a couple weeks. In some situations, your lower back pain will disappear all on its own without undergoing any kind of treatment. Even if treatment becomes necessary, a skilled chiropractor can restore your pain-free lifestyle, so don’t overreact and become excessively worried when you feel lower back pain starting up.

Lie down on your chest

Sometimes pain in your lower back is so intense that you can’t walk, stand, or sit. When this is the case, your first step should be to lie down on your chest on a hard surface. Then, place your arms at your sides and position your head on one side or the other, and try to relax. While remaining in this position, try to get in touch with your body, and sense when your pain symptoms are changing. When you feel that pain is moving from the back, the thighs, or the buttocks into the middle of your spine, you’ll know that you’re helping yourself in this position. If pain moves away from the spine and becomes focused in your thighs or legs, you should immediately change positions. After a few minutes of doing this, move onto the next step.

Prop yourself up on your elbows

Still on your stomach, you can now slowly prop yourself up and support yourself by using your elbows. This will cause the muscles in your lower back to bend back slightly, and you should take some deep breaths while in this position. Again, try to sense the location of any pain in your body, recognizing that movement toward the spine is a good thing. If you feel the pain worsening at all, you should return to lying face down and trying to relax. Otherwise, you can remain propped up for several minutes before returning to the face down position. After three to five repetitions of these two movements, you can move onto the next phase.

Do the press-up exercise

This is a movement which seeks to restore the normal forward curve in your lower back. Lie face down with hands flat on the floor, and positioned under your shoulders. While in this position, slowly press up so that the upper part of your body rises, with the lower part remaining on the floor. Do this several times, unless the pain becomes intense, and you should try to go a little further with each repetition. If you can manage it, perform somewhere between 10 and 15 repetitions of this exercise, before again relaxing on your stomach.

Maintain upright posture

This exercise should be done whenever you happen to be sitting. Use a lumbar roll or a small pillow to help establish the normal forward curve in your lower back. The exercise itself involves pressing your back up next to a chair, and then placing your pillow behind you, at approximately belt level. This is a good exercise to do after you have successfully concluded the other four steps above, and it should contribute to your ongoing pain-free status.

If you are still feeling back pain, schedule an appointment with a skilled chiropractor here at Live Aligned Chiropractic.