In a typical year, around 40% of people living in the United States will suffer from low back pain. Most of them will complain of lower back pain lasting for a few days or so. Unfortunately, 15% of these sufferers will complain of pain lasting several days or even weeks and for significant amounts of time in various times of the year.
Before, the most common medical approach to lower back pain was to consult with a medical physician. These doctors would prescribe their patients with painkillers, traction, and bed rest. But during the decades of the 80s and 90s, it was noticed that traction and bed rest made the pain actually worse. Also, prescription medications, though quite effective in providing short term relief tend to produce negative side effects including dizziness, headaches, stomach pain, and even addiction.
These days a growing number of low back pain sufferers have started to seek alternative modes of treatment for their condition. The latest findings of the National Institutes of Health and the American Medical Association revealed that around 70% of back pain sufferers were consulting with a complementary or alternative practitioner to help address their back problems.
This finding is an indictment of the poor choices of treatment the medical establishment offer these people. Doctors serving the establishment are curious as to why and how alternative treatments work for the treatment of low back pain.
Do Alternative Therapies Really Resolve Lower Back Pain?
The straight and simple answer to this question is: Yes. Several scientific studies have proven that many of these treatments work for the treatment of low back pain. We will talk about the two most commonly used and most effective alternative low back pain therapies: acupuncture and physiotherapy (massage therapy).
Low Back Pain Remedied by Acupuncture and Massage
Medical research journals such as Spine have published studies providing proof that acupuncture and massage therapy do work for lower back pain in Overland Park, particularly for a condition known as “chronic nonspecific low back pain.” A chronic nonspecific low back pain is a back pain condition that is longstanding and has no real identifiable cause. These studies are 100% proof and evidence that massage and acupuncture can indeed help treat low back pain.
Acupuncture and Massage are even more potent when the plan of treatment also includes education and regular exercise. If you know certain ways to that can help relieve your back pain, you will be able to cope with your condition in a much better way. Certain studies have actually shown that acupuncture has a much powerful effect in treating low back pain than massage therapy. More studies need to be done to verify this.
Low Back Pain and Chiropractic Medicine
Over a hundred years old, chiropractic care has grown into a multibillion dollar industry with thousands of chiropractors offering their services throughout the Union. The medical establishment has virulently attacked the practice of chiropractors although this form of treatment has produced really good and consistent results all throughout the years.
The consensus is that chiropractic care is just as good as education, drugs, and physical therapy with regards to back and joint pain treatment. Studies have not proven that chiropractic medicine is a harmful procedure and many chiropractic patients have reported relief or even cure of their low back pain from this form of treatment.
Low Back Pain and the Feldenkrais Method
Considered an alternative mode of treatment, the Feldenkrais Method has been reported to be a powerful therapy for the treatment of back pain. This procedure was invented by Moshe Feldnekrais during the 1940’s. today, over a thousand practitioners of this craft are offering their services to patients who are willing to try the treatment out.
One study noted that more than 70% of low back patients who participated reported substantial improvement of their symptoms. Most of these patients said that they still have benefited from the treatment even a year after the study ended.
Studies were also done observing the effectiveness of the Feldenkrais on painful conditions such as chronic shoulder and neck pain as well as fibromyalgia. These studies mirrored the results of the study on back pain. The subjects manifested a lowering in movement restriction, discomfort, and pain. A lot of the subjects also reported a decrease in their anxiety and depression and an improvement in their ability to relax.
Lower Back Pain, What Should You Do about It
If you are suffering from lower back pain, the need to maintain a light-exercise program and to stay active is important. Staying in bed while you have back pain will only make the pain worse. If you need drugs to dull pain, be sure to only take over-the-counter medications such as ibuprofen or aspirin. If symptoms do not get better, then you need to talk to your doctor to see what can be done about it.
The least invasive form of treatment is the best choice for any type of pain. Rarely is surgery required (if required at all). But if your physician thinks surgery is the best option, be sure to get a second opinion and ask for a recommendation for practitioners or healers who treat conditions without the use of drugs or surgery at all. And since evidence that alternative therapies for low back pain works, then there is no reason why you shouldn’t consider and try them.
After your pain has been relieved or cured, you need to take care of yourself in a much better way. Maintain the flexibility and strength of your stomach and back muscles. Get massage and/or acupuncture regularly, maintain a balanced and flexible posture, know the right techniques in lifting heavy objects and learn how to deal with regular stress in a healthy way. All these will allow you to live a happy and pain-free life.