Your First Three Steps to Getting Rid of Your Back Pain at Home

Nov 2

For almost a decade, my clients have gotten rid of their back pain after implementing my “keep it simple” strategy. If you’re dealing with back pain and don’t have enough time in your schedule for a bunch of appointments, then you NEED a game plan.

If your doctor has ruled out a serious cause for your back pain, then it’s time to take action and regain control of how you feel! Avoid the rabbit hole of Google while trying to figure it all out by yourself and get the help you need. It’s a rabbit hole I myself have gotten lost in way too many times. (The world of parenting blogs runs deep and always pulls me in!)

If you were to ask me “where do I begin?”, this is what I'd tell you…

Here are your first three steps to getting rid of your back pain at home:

Step 1 - Walk every day

If your back hurts, it needs to move. It does NOT need to rest! The muscles, ligaments, and tendons are all demanding nice, easy movement from you. And the best way to do this is by starting with an easy 15-minute walk EVERY DAY. There are a million benefits to walking every day (okay…slight exaggeration but you get my point)! Putting all of them aside, just remember this: research tells us that walking reduces back pain and even reduce the risk of it coming back by almost half!

Step 2 - Use a hot/cold gel pack

A quick way to relieve pain is by putting a cold or hot pack on the area for 15 minutes at a time, 3x/day. This is the classic treatment and it’s classic because it WORKS! Buy a reusable hot/cold gel pack that you can either keep in the freezer or heat up in the microwave. Alternating ice and heat can be really helpful in 20-minute increments, with an hour or two in-between alternating.

Step 3 - Lower your stress

Ahhhh, the missing piece of the puzzle. The Mind-Body Connection tells us that on one hand, your thoughts and feelings can affect how healthy your body is. On the other hand, what you do with your body - like what you eat, how much you exercise, and your posture - can impact your mood. So, stress can actually make your back pain worse! Stress causes your muscles to tense or spasm, which increases pain. When you feel stressed, levels of the hormone cortisol rise. This can cause inflammation and pain over time. Having your own stress relieving routine will ease your stress both physically and mentally. Choose 1 to do regularly, at least 5 minutes per day. Examples are meditation, listening to relaxing music, or journaling.