Back Pain is the most common reason for doctor visits in the United States and Europe. In the United States alone, more than one-third of adults will experience back pain at some point in their lives. The average American spends more than $10,000 each year on prescription medications and medical procedures for lower back pain alone.

Most people aren’t aware of the fact that they can be at risk of developing back pain. This is a serious health concern and can lead to an increase in your risk of having a stroke, diabetes, and other health issues.

If you’re interested in learning back pain management strategies, keep reading. Here are some strategies that have helped people avoid complications when they think they’re experiencing back pain.

1.  Exercise and Stretching

Exercise is a natural way to strengthen muscles and joints, which can help improve your posture and balance. Exercises for lower back pain can also give you energy, reduce stress, and improve your mood. Exercise will also strengthen your muscles which will support your aching back.

Stretching can help you increase flexibility in your hips, shoulders, neck, and lower back. It also helps to reduce muscle tension that causes pain. Stretching more than once a day is best for improving flexibility.

Exercise and stretching are powerful ways to help manage back pain. For people who have chronic back pain or after surgery, you may need to do more than the recommended amount of exercise or stretching to relieve the pain.

2.  Hot and Cold Therapy

Hot and cold Therapy involves applying warm packs or ice packs to specific areas of your body where you’re experiencing back pain. You can do this at home or with a visit to a physical therapist who specializes in this type of treatment.

The idea is that applying heat directly to painful spots on your body will help reduce inflammation — which can cause more pain — while also reducing swelling in those areas.

You’ll want to apply both heat and cold packs when first starting hot or cold therapy so that it’s easier for you to feel good results within days instead of weeks or months.

3.  Good Posture

The first step in managing back pain is to correct your posture. The first half of the body that supports your head is the spine. It’s the strongest part of your body and can handle a lot of weight, but if you have poor posture or an injury, it can’t do its job well enough.

In order to correct your posture in order to manage back pain, start by sitting up straight with good posture. This means sitting up tall, with shoulders relaxed and chest lifted. Your head should also stay steady on top of your neck. If you don’t have good posture, it will be difficult for your body to support itself correctly.

4.  Chiropractic Sessions

If you suspect that you might have a serious problem with your back, you should see a doctor right away. He or she will be able to determine what the problem is and whether or not you need treatment for it. If you don’t have insurance coverage for regular visits to the doctor’s office, consider seeing one who specializes in treating back pain.

If your doctor determines that you don’t need surgery or other expensive treatments for your condition, he or she may want to recommend an alternative treatment option. An example of this could be chiropractic care. As explained by the team at Weald Chiropractic, chiropractic doctors focus on helping people with back pain.

They adjust their spines when necessary so that they function more smoothly. Chiropractors often recommend using several different types of treatments for managing back pain. This includes Physical Therapy sessions and massage therapy sessions as well as lifestyle changes such as proper diet and exercise routines that help keep muscles strong and flexible enough so that they won’t get hurt if they’ve overexerted.

5.  Pain Medications

Painkillers are a popular treatment for back pain. But there’s a good chance you’re taking more than you need.

One reason is that many people don’t know how much medication to take. Another is that some doctors give patients too much or too little medication.

Before you start taking medication, talk to your doctor about how much is too much and what side effects you could experience. If you need help finding the best meds for back pain, ask your doctor about prescription-strength ibuprofen or naproxen sodium (Naprosyn). These two are the best painkillers for back pain.

However, the risk of addiction is higher when a person takes medications without a prescription. That’s because people who don’t have a doctor-approved reason for taking it often do so out of habit or because they think it will help them with their symptoms. But this can lead to dependence on the drug and other problems.

6.  Physical Therapy

If you’re suffering from back pain, physical therapy can help you avoid complications. You’ll want to visit a doctor who specializes in treating back pain and spine disorders. Some specialists are chiropractors; others are physical therapists (PTs). If you’re unsure which kind of doctor to see, ask your primary care physician for his or her recommendation.

Physical therapy is a treatment option for people with back pain caused by conditions such as disc disease and disc herniation, which are conditions in which one or more discs in the spine become displaced or herniated. Physical therapy helps to strengthen muscles around your spine and reduce inflammation that may be contributing to your condition.

The goal of physical therapy is to restore function to the area of your body that’s hurting so that you can resume your normal activities — including work or leisure activities — without experiencing pain.

Use These Strategies and Get Rid of Your Back Pain

Here are the six strategies that everyone can use to manage their back pain. From exercising and stretching to undergoing physical therapy, there is always a way to alleviate yourself from your back pain. What are you waiting for? Choose one of these plans and remove back pain from your life!