Back pain is something a lot of people suffer with but as well as seeing a professional physio Mount Hawthorn or where you are, there are also some things you can do in your everyday life to help prevent and manage it.
North Queensland physiotherapy centre has services to help you with your back pain.
Try to maintain good posture
Having good posture is one of the things that can help. It means that your joints in the surrounding musculature are properly aligned.
This then ensures that when forces are transmitted through your body, it is done in a way where the least effort is used. Having poor posture leads to muscles that are both shortened and elongated and the joint attachments can get pulled out of alignment. A physio Floreat would suggest you try to keep an upright and open stance as much as possible. Think of a string coming out the top of your head, pulling you up. It engages your core muscles and should tighten your stomach muscles without actually sucking in your tummy. In this position, you need to breathe normally and practice walking around with your shoulders back and keeping yourself tall. Avoid rounded shoulders and being in a slumped position all the time.
Strengthen your core
A good thing to do is to focus on exercises that strengthen your core. You can do exercises that work on this area but you can also practice engaging them during everyday movements and activities. When your back is hurting you might think you need to stop all movement and rest, but in fact, you still need to move around some, just within the span of what you can manage pain-wise, to avoid making the problem worse and having problems with stiffness. Don’t move to the point where it is excruciatingly painful, but find a medium where you can manage.
Apply heat and ice
One of the most frequent questions a physio Mount Hawthorn and elsewhere might get from patients with back issues is whether they are meant to use heat or ice therapy to help manage the pain. It really depends on the cause of the back pain or the type of back pain you are experiencing.
If it comes on suddenly and is very painful and sharp then for the first few days you should use ice to try to reduce the swelling. Use an ice pack or even a bag of frozen veg, wrap them in a towel and then apply to where the pain is for ten minutes and do this every three hours. If the pain is chronic, an ongoing pain that is more dull but persistent then you should use heat at first, as this increases the blood flow and softens the tight muscles, stimulating healing. In some cases, it is recommended to use a mix of both approaches, your health professional can help you.
Know when to see a doctor
It is important to know that there are times when self-management is not enough and you need to see a doctor who will refer you to a physio Floreat or local to you.
