Gym managers must love the month of January. For those whose New Year’s resolutions included losing weight and generally becoming more fit, January is the month to start sweating on the treadmill and being shouted at by a toned personal trainer. New Years resolutions don’t always work, and many new gym members might soon find themselves skipping the gym and spending the evening in front of the TV instead, which is fine for the gym manager- since they’ve already signed you up for a 12 month contract anyway. A good level of physical fitness is perhaps the best way to avoid many ailments and illnesses, but it’s not so straightforward to those who suffer from a pre-existing condition, such as back pain. If you’re affected by back pain, there are a number of options available, both exercise and medicinal that can help you take control of the pain and to stop it from controlling you. In some cases, steroids can be prescribed, but this can often be an unpleasant experience for the patient. Let’s look at some of the multiple other methods available for beating back pain.
Back Pain and Exercise
An overall high level of physical fitness is a great way to alleviate back pain, but it’s a catch 22, since the back pain can often prevent you from exercising. A qualified personal trainer can help you to organize a fitness plan that will accommodate your back pain, and you might also want to consider yoga. Again, you need to be mindful of your back pain, so perhaps a gentle yoga program that caters for pregnancy is a good idea for you.
Back Pain and Medication
For back pain that requires medication, your doctor might well suggest steroid injections, but the side effects are often not worth it. Steroid users can experience mood swings, acne, increased cholesterol levels and even heart strain. It might help your back, but it introduces another group of medical issues to contend with. Your doctor can help you to find an anti-inflammatory medication that’s gentler on your body with fewer side effects. There are a number of different non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs available, so you might need to trial a few different varieties until you find the one that’s most effective.
Other Methods for Fighting Back Pain
In some cases of severe back pain, surgical intervention might be necessary to repair the damaged vertebrae, and this is often suggested in the case of back pain due to an accident or injury. Regular visits to a chiropractor can also be highly effective, so ask your doctor for a referral. A lesser-known method of fighting back pain is radiofrequency ablation, and this involves nerve tissue being targeted by an electrical current using radio waves. This procedure is quick and easy and is performed on an outpatient basis in most cases.
Severe back pain can make it difficult to function on a day to day basis, and some days you might just want to stay in bed with a hot water bottle firmly applied to your lower back. Given that there are so many different methods available for pain management and injury relief, it’s important to explore a number of different options, since in your case it might simply be that a number of different approaches at the same time are the most effective way of beating back pain. Unlike steroids, most of these methods are without any major side effects, which is a huge bonus. You don’t want to manage your back pain only to discover that you need to start using Clearasil.