Arizona Natural Family Medicine

Safe and Proven Techniques to Live a Pain Free Life

For most of us getting older, we are no strangers to back pain. With back pain affecting nearly 80% of our country’s population, it is safe to say that there is a need for effective remedies for lower back pain, and quite frankly while there is a need for all back pain remedies, for the purposes of this article we will focus on lower back pain. As you read medical journals and articles you may find many suggestions as to the methods of subduing your back pain, however, some options are more effective than others.

In this article, we will first discuss some possible causes of lower back pain and then we will discuss just what treatments are the most effective in providing remedies for lower back pain. Pain in your back can be attributed to a number of things; ranging from heavy lifting to getting older, and everything in between. To illustrate some of the common causes for lower back pain, here are a few:

Injury or Overuse:

This arises from a high range of activity occurring in the muscles, joints, and/or ligaments. Injuries can be attributed to activity in sports, recreational activities, and household duties such as yard work, cleaning, and especially moving. If you think you have experienced a pull or strain recently from one of these activities, we encourage you to come in for a quick exam or you can continue reading below for some other remedies for lower back pain.

Pressure on Nerve Roots:

This occurs in the spinal canal and can be caused by a wide variety of ailments. Most of them are developed as a result of extraneous factors such as age or physical accidents. To illustrate a few examples of what might cause pressure on nerve roots, read below:

1) Fractures: Occurring on the vertebrae as a result of heavy force (e.g. auto accident, direct fall on buttocks or head, and/or heavy pressure to the back)

2) Herniated Disc: This is very common in construction professions and/or sports that require heavy vibration, motion, or lifting. This can also be a direct result of incorrect lifting techniques.

3) Osteoarthritis: This is typically caused by getting older. This ailment affects joints that are smaller around the spine, directly leading to back pain. Also, you will notice that when osteoarthritis is developed in the hips it will cause a limp or shift in weight, also resulting in lower back pain.

Remedies:

Now, on to the remedies for lower back pain! This is where you will find real, practical, and effective treatments for lower back pain. There are various natural and non-surgical treatments for lower back pain that will prove to be enormously helpful if you are experiencing pain, they are as follows:

Aqua Ball Cises:

This system of innovative techniques is performed in up to 3 to 5 feet of water with equipment designed by Dr. Howell himself. This water exercise remedy, allows you to reduce joint stress in addition to gaining aerobic and flexibility training. You are also simultaneously improving coordination, balance, and core muscular strength and endurance.

Spinal and Soft Tissue Manipulation:

This lower back pain remedy is not unlike a deep tissue massage but is also combined with a connective tissue release to address musculoskeletal pain and dysfunction. With the congruence of tissue massage techniques and spinal manipulation, a session is specifically tailored to your level of pain to reduce pressure and promote optimal health.

Acupuncture:

Most of us might already be aware of what this ancient remedy consists of. For those who are still in question, it is a treatment that consists of using incredibly fine, sterilized needles to impale the skin and stimulate the healing process. This process usually takes from 20-30 minutes per session and has been used for thousands of years to treat acute and chronic illnesses.

Prolotherapy:

This is quite possibly the best non-surgical solution for joint pain. When musculoskeletal injuries do not heal correctly or in a timely manner, they can be exposed to pain and/or joint instability. This causes cartilage to wear down more rapidly with arthritic changes.

Prolotherapy is a small injection which may include a concentrated sugar solution, anesthetics, and a water soluble form of cod liver oil extract, called sodium morruhuate. When injected into the joint, the ligament on the bone, or attachment point of the tendon, prolotherapy treatments cause the tendon or ligament cells to multiply, making the healing process more effective and rapid.

These are a detailed list of just some remedies for lower back pain offered by Dr. Mario Howell. If you are seeking a solution to your nagging back pain, please contact us immediately to schedule an appointment.