Back pain is something that we have all had to deal with to some extent or another in our lives, and so back pain relief is relevant to everyone one of us. The problem is, the back is such a complicated set of bones and muscles that there are hundreds of reasons why your back may ache. I can give you a basic introduction to what makes the back hurt, but it may very well take a back pain specialist to help you recover. Nonetheless, some simple knowledge will be helpful.
You are likely experiencing some kind of back muscle pain (we’ll explain other types of back pain later on), but it’s probably one of two problems. You either were using your muscles too aggressively and hurt something, or you are underusing a set of muscles that is growing too weak to do its job properly. If you pulled or stretched or injured something, perhaps playing sports, or maybe you tripped and hurt yourself, then you are going to want to prevent yourself from doing whatever it was that caused you to hurt yourself. If you bent over trying to lift something (lift with your knees, not your back!) then you start by not picking anything up for awhile.
You’ll likely be tempted to just lay around until it stops hurting, but this is not a good way to prevent future injury. If you just let it heal without exercising the muscles, they will heal, but they’ll be stiff, and will be slightly more prone to being hurt again in the future. Instead, it’s highly advisable to stretch the muscles very softly while healing, just enough to feel a bit of resistance, to keep them from being stiff. And then, once your back has stopped hurting, you really should engage in some muscle building exercises that work that area, as your muscles will need a little exercise to get back to their original strength. If you don’t regularly exercise, ask your doctor for some advice on this.
If your muscles are sore from inactivity – say you don’t exercise, you try to shovel the driveway, and you are feeling upper back pain when you get back inside – then you should follow a similar strategy. You need to slowly stretch and work the muscle each day, making sure it doesn’t get stiff from disuse – and then talk to your doctor about muscle strengthening exercises.
Really, most back muscle pain, even that middle back pain that comes from sitting too long, is a result of not properly stretching and strengthening your muscles. This is why an exercise regimen is so important.
It’s possible that you are having bone problems or in some rare cases, like gallbladder problems, the symptoms can resemble back pain. If you’re having chronic back pain, which is classified as pain that you feel for more than six months, you absolutely need to speak with a doctor.