Do you find your day disrupted by that annoyingly familiar pang of lower back pain? So many women suffer from lower back pain for a number of different reasons – perhaps you have bad posture, maybe you don’t sleep in the right position… However, you don’t have to continue living with lower back pain.
Read our easy tips for easing your lower back pain, and you might just find yourself a changed woman.
Sleep
Pain can cause difficulty sleeping and lack of sleep can make the pain even worse – it’s a vicious cycle that is incredibly hard to break. Small changes like rearranging your sleeping position, reducing or increasing the number of pillows or relaxing your muscles with a hot shower right before you go to bed could make all the difference.
New mattress
If you suffer from lower back pain, a medium-firm mattress is an ideal choice for you, rather than a firm bed. It’s important to change your mattress at least every 6 to 8 years, but if your lower back pain isn’t getting any better, a new mattress may be the solution. Just make sure before you commit to a new mattress that you’ve diagnosed exactly what your back issues are, and that you’ve done accurate research to figure out what kind of mattress will suit your lower back’s needs.
Exercise your core
Exercising the muscles in your abs and back can have a huge positive impact on your lower back pain. Even doing something as simple as correcting your posture while you’re sitting at your desk works those muscles and can have a lasting effect. If you feel like taking it a step further, practise sitting upright on an exercise ball for 30 minutes a day. It’ll work wonders.
Cold and hot therapy
Utilising either cold or hot therapy can be hugely beneficial for soothing lower back pain. Cold application reduces inflammation and also acts as a local anaesthetic by slowing down nerve impulses, which prevents your nerves from spasming and causing you discomfort. Heat application stimulates blood flow, which sends healing nutrients to the area of your body that’s in pain. There are many ways to incorporate cold or hot therapy into your daily routine, such as cold packs, hot water bottles and hot showers. Just go with whatever works best for you.
Feet
There’s a chance that the source of your lower back pain could be found in your feet. According to a study in the journal Rheumatology, women whose feet roll inwards when they walk may be especially prone to lower back pain. If you suspect that your feet may have something to do with your pain, it’s definitely worth speaking to a specialist about your concerns. You can then look into whether taking extra measures, such as wearing orthotics to correct the arch of your feet.
Keep moving
You may think the best way to deal with the pain is just to lie exactly where you are without moving a muscle, but there’s nothing worse for lower back pain than staying still. Stretch your body out, go for a walk and enjoy the fresh air. Even better – take part in a yoga class. Keeping your body moving can help stabilise your spine and so reduce your lower back pain.
Massage
Research has found that those who received weekly massages experienced less pain after 10 weeks compared to those who didn’t. General relaxation rubdowns also worked just as well as structural massages that target specific body parts. Another study revealed that 63% of people experienced moderate improvement in lower-back pain when they underwent six osteopathic manual treatments over 8 weeks, with 50% reporting substantial improvement. Seems like a great excuse to indulge in some treatments – especially if it will positively impact your day-to-day wellbeing.
Acupuncture
A 2013 study reported that acupuncture may actually provide more relief than painkillers. Acupuncture works by changing the way your nerves react and can help with inflammation around the joints. If you haven’t considered acupuncture before, it could be well worth your while to try it.
