How You Can Get Back on Track
By Sara Butler
The chances of avoiding back pain over the course of your entire life are pretty slim. In fact, the American Chiropractic Association says that the average person has an 80 percent chance of experiencing back pain at some point in their lives. Don’t let this statistic get you down, though! By seeing your chiropractor regularly and learning how to care for you back as well as recover from injury, any episode of back pain you experience can only be a small bump in the road.
Is it Serious?
One of the first things you have to determine when it comes to an episode of back pain is if it’s serious or not. Some issues such as sprain or strain injuries can resolve themselves in a week or two without serious intervention, but more significant injuries will require a bit more finesse. Your injury is potentially serious if you experience:
- Numbness
- Loss of strength
- Loss of coordination
- Pain traveling to other parts of the body
If you experience any of these symptoms then you will need to get professional help right away. However, to be safe you should see your chiropractor at The Joint even if your injury isn’t serious so you can make sure you’re on the right track to a complete recovery.
What You Can Do
To help you regain your mobility and back health you should:
- Apply ice – When you have an injury you may think reaching for a warm compress is the answer but you could do more damage that way. Soothe an injury with a cold compress to help control the inflammation and lessen the pain. Remember – where there’s inflammation there’s a flame, and that flame produces heat. You don’t want to add more heat to an area that’s already on fire! Apply ice for 10 minutes every hour during the first day or two after the injury.
- Move around – You may think if you hurt your back you need to rest it, but when it comes to a sprain or a strain, that’s the last thing you actually want to do! Don’t push yourself but also don’t sit around; you should try to stay mobile.
- Wear good shoes – When you have a back injury you need to wear shoes that are supportive. Put the high heels away until you are healed so you don’t put even more strain on your already strained back.
Remember, if you injure yourself, you don’t need an appointment to come see a chiropractor at The Joint – just drop in at your convenience!