Three Activities That Can Help Relieve Your Back Pain

Health & Medical Blog

If you're among the 80 percent of people who will suffer from back pain at some point, it's important to have a variety of ways of finding relief at your disposal. Seeking help from a health professional is always a viable alternative, but if you're eager to implement pain-reducing steps into your daily life, you can often experience favorable results through exercise. Getting active, provided your movements don't interfere with your back pain, is simple way you can take a proactive approach to lessening your pain and often find success. Here are three activities that are worth trying if your back is sore.

Yoga

While you want to be sure that none of the poses push your back beyond positions that are comfortable, yoga can often help to reduce back pain. This ancient activity is an effective way to improve the flexibility of your muscles, which can be beneficial. Even if you don't find immediate results, sticking with this activity can help to improve your range of motion and reduce the instances of pain you're experiencing. A variety of common yoga poses are useful for treating back pain. These poses include the Cat, Downward-Facing Dog and Fish poses.

Swimming

If you have convenient access to a pool, slipping into your swimsuit and getting into the water can be the start of some pain relief. Water-based exercises are ideal for people with back pain because the water's buoyancy can take pressure off the spine. When selecting a swimming stroke that you can perform, it's best to stay away from strokes that involve a significant amount of twisting. As such, a common stroke such as the front crawl is less ideal than a stroke such as the backstroke. If you're not an accomplished swimmer, look for a beginner-level water aerobics class at your local pool. You'll get the buoyant quality of swimming as you perform a variety of movements while standing in the shallow end of the pool.

Walking

Don't make the mistake of discounting walking as a valuable activity for back pain. This simple aerobic exercise is ideal because it's often easy to perform with back pain and doesn't require a specialized venue or equipment. Your increased heart rate will send more nutrient-rich blood to your back, which helps it to heal. Additionally, walking will strengthen many of the muscles that help you maintain an erect posture, such as those in your core and your back itself. Walking can also provide a boost to your emotional health, which is helpful if your back pain has left you discouraged.

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30 November 2015

Help Others Make Health Decisions when They Cannot

One day I was playing a game of basketball with a friend, and the friend I was playing ball with tripped and took a hard fall to the ground. He hit his head hard, but he insisted he was okay and just wanted to go home and take a nap. I knew in my heart that he was not thinking clearly, and I didn't feel right letting him go home. I talked him into letting me take him to the hospital, and after some tests, it was determined he had a bad concussion. The doctors told me that if I had let him go home and sleep, things could have taken a turn for the worse. I created this blog to remind everyone to look out for each other after injuries. Not everyone thinks clearly after a head injury, and just being a good friend could save a life.