Alternative treatment for severe back pain
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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Alternative medicine, which exists much longer than traditional medicine, has accumulated many useful recipes from various types of pain syndrome. And since complaints of back pain are an ancient problem that has received particular popularity in connection with the development of the Internet, many recipes are complemented and improved to become accessible to a wide range of patients.
Among the variety of means and methods of dealing with intense pain in the back and lumbar region, warming procedures are very popular, because it has long been known that the body relaxes under the influence of heat, and blood circulation and metabolism are activated, which reduces the intensity of the pain syndrome. At the same time, heating can be performed using various methods:
Dry compresses
- You can fill a canvas bag with sand in the oven and put it on a sore spot. It is better to do it lying on your stomach, relaxing. Keep the compress you need to relieve pain. Instead of sand, you can use clay (from it you need to make a cake and apply warm to the place of localization of pain) or salt.
- Another effective recipe for back pain. It is necessary to take a wide scarf or a folded scarf made of natural wool (preferably sheep, but you can take any other, the main thing is that it was a natural material). Dip the fabric in saline solution prepared from 2 tbsp. Salt and a liter of water, and leave for half an hour so that the wool is well saturated with salt. After this, a peculiar treatment belt is pressed and dried as usual underwear. We dry dry prepared fabric around the waist and wear a belt for a few days (severe chronic pain usually goes away within a week, sharp - for a couple of days), removing it only for carrying out water hygienic or medical procedures.
Compresses based on healthy products
- One of the most popular is the cabbage-honey compress, which can be used for pains of different localization. To make it, we heat up some honey in a water bath, add an equal amount of vinegar to it and apply the mixture in a warm form with a thin layer on a large cabbage leaf. We apply the prepared leaf to the sore spot and fix it with woolen cloth, which will additionally warm the sore spot. Compress is applied for 1-2 hours or more (it is especially good to use it at night).
- The second most popular is a compress from the root and leaves of horseradish. Grind the root of the plant with the leaves using a meat grinder and lightly grind the resulting gruel with camphor oil or sour cream, which will reduce the burning sensation. The composition is laid out on cotton fabric and fixed on the sore spot. From above for warming we put a hot-water bottle. We keep the compress on the body for 2-3 minutes, after which we replace the composition with ordinary horseradish leaves, put a warm cloth on top of them and go to bed to rest for at least a quarter of an hour.
- The simplest recipe is to put burdock leaves on a sore spot, which need to be fixed on the body with the same woolen scarf or scarf. This recipe can be improved, pre-dipping sheets into a warm mixture of water and vinegar. But in this case, it is recommended to lubricate the skin in the place of application of the compress with vegetable oil and leave the compress for the night, after which it will be necessary to wipe the sore spot with a damp, warm cloth.
- This tool is quite cruel, so it should be applied not on a naked body, but on a thin natural fabric. Wash the washed beets on the smallest grater. Juice squeeze, and use the cake for a compress, adding to it 1 tbsp. Kerosene. We apply a compress for the night, from above having covered it with a film and woolen fabric. Usually one procedure is enough to significantly reduce pain.
Warm baths
By themselves, warm baths help to reduce pain, but if you add herbal extracts to bath water, there will be much more benefit, because herbal medicine is in the place of honor in alternative medicine. For baths, you can prepare decoctions and tinctures of the following plants:
- Chamomile flowers and grass (preparing a strong infusion, filtering and pouring into hot enough, but not burning, bath water),
- Shoots and birch earrings (we pour the raw material with boiling water and keep it in the water bath for a quarter of an hour, after which we filter and pour it into the bath),
- Pine needles (pine branches boil for 10 minutes on low heat, filter the composition and use as directed),
- Mint leaves and sprigs (boil for 15-20 minutes),
- Fruits of horse chestnut (chop and boil to obtain a saturated composition).
Alternatively, if there is no suitable plant material, you can use mustard powder (150-200 g per bath), which is simply dissolved in hot water. After the bath, it is better to lie in a warm bed or at least wrap a sore spot warmly.
To a kind of warming procedures include all sorts of rubbing using medicinal tinctures and ointments. Such natural rubbing can be purchased at the pharmacy (tincture of burdock, dandelion, eucalyptus, Adam's root, the drug "Bishofit", "Triple cologne") or prepare yourself.
For example, quite often at battles in a back use "Triple cologne". True, with severe pain, such a tool is ineffective, but if it is supplemented with other healing components, the effect will be much more tangible. So on a large bottle of cologne it is recommended to add 2 bottles of iodine and valerian tincture. Pour the mixture into a dark glass bowl and add 5 pods of red hot pepper. It is necessary to insist on the remedy for at least 24 hours, after which the lower back is smeared with it or a mesh is painted on it.
For rubbing, you can use homemade ointment made from any cosmetic cream (for example, children's) or vaseline and mustard and red pepper powders. The ingredients are mixed in proportions so that when rubbed into the skin there is a slight burning and warmth.
You can also insist on a budget pharmacy drug "Bishofit" plant nodules golden mustache and apply the composition for active grinding of the sore spot.
By the way, this healing plant is quite popular in the treatment of spinal pain and is used in various recipes. For example, from the stems and leaves of a plant, you can squeeze the juice, and grind the remaining cake into mush. On 3 parts of the prepared vegetable raw materials we take 1 part of any cream, mix well and apply with massage movements on the sore spot 2 times a day.
For recurrent back pains, golden mustache is used in the form of compresses. An alcoholic tincture of a plant is suitable for this, in which a cloth is moistened and placed on its back. Compresses should be put twice a day, covering with a film and a warm scarf.
If the pain is caused by inflammation of the joints of the spinal column, an oil emulsion of golden whiskers will be more effective. Crushed raw materials (sprigs with knots) pour vegetable oil in the ratio of 1 to 2 and stir in the oven for 7 hours. The temperature in the oven should be no more than 30 degrees. Oil should be applied to the skin along the spine and gently rub.
When muscle pain due to stretching or overstressing muscles, ginger ointment helps well. For its preparation, ginger root is well ground in a blender. Add to the resulting slurry eucalyptus oil and knead well. Apply the ointment on the affected area with a thin layer 2-3 times a day. This treatment helps to reduce pain and reduce tissue swelling.
If there is nothing suitable at home, ordinary mustard plasters can be used to treat back and back pain, which have a warming and irritating effect, due to which the pain quickly disappears. With strong pains, we will improve the recipe. In the water, where we will moisten the mustard plasters (1/4 cup), add the furatsilina tablet crushed into powder and 1 tbsp. Liquid honey. The duration of the procedure depends on the threshold of sensitivity of the patient, but will have to suffer a little burning, after which there comes relief.
When mustard plasters are removed, the skin is wiped with a damp warm cloth and lubricated with baby cream, and then we warm it well.
There are a lot of such recipes that help in the fight against pain in the back, but if the pain is very strong, then you should not expect quick relief from them. Alternative treatment it makes sense to apply in combination with drug therapy.
In addition, treatment of severe back pain should be started after the diagnosis is made and an accurate diagnosis is made. Otherwise, it can only bring disappointment. So with inflammatory pathologies of internal organs, which are reflected back pain: the scapula floor, shoulder, lower back, rubbing the back and compresses simply will not bring relief, and hot baths can even hurt.
In pyelonephritis, even heat can be harmful to the lower back, while renal colic can be removed by applying a warming pad to the lower back and a warm bath. In oncology and infectious diseases, procedures aimed at activating blood circulation are generally undesirable, because they contribute to the spread of metastases and pathogens throughout the body. Therefore, not knowing the exact cause of severe back pain, which is most often associated with serious diseases, it is no wonder to hurt yourself.
Before applying any of the alternative recipes, especially when it comes to heating and massage procedures, you should always consult with your doctor.
Homeopathy
No matter what they say about homeopathy, the number of fans of natural treatment is growing every year. And even if a positive result from the use of homeopathic remedies is based only on the belief that they will help, but it brings relief and recovery to a person, it means that these techniques also have a right to exist. Especially considering the fact that the contraindications and side effects of homeopathy medicines are much smaller than those of the pharmaceutical industry.
What can homeopathy offer us to deal with severe pain in the back and lower back. First, let's talk about drugs for internal use, which have a systemic healing effect on the body, activating its internal forces:
- Arnica. It is recommended to take the medicine by mouth for rheumatic pains and diseases of the internal organs, due to which there are reflected back pains. The same drug helps with traumatic injuries of the spine and back.
- Bryonium is prescribed for back pain that holds back motion, when the symptom is intensified during any movement.
- Rus toxicodendron, on the contrary, is prescribed to those to whom it becomes easier from movement, but during physical exertion, overwork and hypothermia, the patient's condition worsens.
- Hypericum helps with pains in the sacrum and the coccyx, as well as injuries of nerve fibers, including their compression (radicular syndrome).
- With pulsating pains in the lower back, extending to the leg (ischalgia), the drug Agaricus is indicated.
- Kalium jodatum helps to cope with the same problems, as well as with the pain syndrome that occurs during the night and morning.
- In acute back pain, the intake of mineral homeopathic remedies (Calcium and Magnesium) gives a good effect. The latter drug also helps relieve painful muscle spasms.
- And finally, with the pain of a psychogenic nature and neurological symptoms arising on the background of stresses and experiences, the Coloncitum has a positive effect.
So far we have been talking about single-component homeopathic remedies that homeopaths prescribe in combination with constitutional preparations. But today there are also combined means that have a more intense and diverse action, which helps not only to relieve back pain, but also to treat its cause:
- Drops Rus toxicodendron Oligoplex production Germany.
In the composition of the drug we find:
- Rus toksikodendron, positively affecting the bone muscle, cartilage and connective tissue, eliminating rheumatic pains, forcing a person to look for a position in which they subside even a little,
- Bryonia, which helps with chilling pains,
- Mercury chloride, effective in inflammatory processes (helps with pain caused by pyelonephritis and renal colic),
- Oil of wintergreen, used for burning pain in the lumbar region and kidneys,
- White willow extract that relieves inflammation and helps with various pain syndromes.
For acute back pain, it is recommended to take the drug up to 6 times a day, for chronic symptoms, 1–3 times a day. A single dose, if the doctor does not prescribe another, is 5 drops.
The drug contains alcohol, so it is not prescribed to children under 12 years old, patients with serious kidney disease, people with alcohol dependence, and during pregnancy and breastfeeding the drug can be taken only after consulting a doctor.
Side effects of the drug develop very rarely and are presented in the form of slight discomfort in the abdomen or skin reactions on the background of increased sensitivity to the components of the drug. Increased salivation in patients receiving the drug is considered alarming symptom and requires the abolition of the medication.
- Drops Berberis Oligopleks made in Germany.
This drug helps to remove harmful substances from diseased tissues and thereby optimizes the effect of the previous drug, therefore they are often prescribed in combination.
The composition of the homeopathic complex:
- Barberry is a plant that is effective for rheumatic pains, damage to the sacrum, and shooting. It also helps with diseases of the urinary system, accompanied by stitching pains in the back and lower back.
- Wormwood is a herb used to treat gout and rheumatic pains in the lower back.
- Autumn immortelle - helps with the defeat of the muscles and joints, the touch of which gives the patient a lot of pain.
- Gentian (root) - reduces acute pain in the stomach (stabbing pains) and spastic muscle pain.
- Sushenitsa - herb for the treatment of rheumatism and sciatic nerve neuralgia.
- Ledumberry also helps with inflammatory joint pain.
- Emetic nut (seed) helps with pains of a spastic nature in muscles, stomach, urinary tract, burning back pain, reflected pain.
- Turpentine oil, the action of which we have already considered.
Contraindications and side effects of drugs are similar. Increased urine and sweating, especially in the first days of taking the drug, are considered to be a normal condition, as they help to clean the body of toxins.
- Drops Ledum Oligopleks made in Germany.
This homeopathic remedy is effective for intense aching back pains, aggravated by bad weather conditions. In its composition there are only 2 components:
- Sodium nitrate, used for catarrhal viral diseases and inflammatory processes caused by hypothermia of the body.
- Rhododendron is a plant used to treat pain caused by rheumatism and nerve damage. It has a positive effect on the kidneys, so it can be used to treat pyelonephritis, which is characterized by reflected back pain.
A feature of homeopathic medicines is the exacerbation of diseases in the first days of treatment, so you should not immediately draw conclusions about the dangers or inefficiencies of such remedies. Considering that homeopathic treatment is based on the treatment of similar ones, the body needs time to activate the forces to fight the disease, and the drugs only give impetus, a kind of signal to action.
In homeopathy, as in traditional medicine, there are tools for systemic and for local treatment. Drugs used externally, are usually produced in the form of ointments. For severe back pain, you can use the healing properties of the following drugs:
- Ointment "Arnica" on the basis of the infusion of flowers of this medicinal plant is used to relieve pain and inflammation in various back injuries (including stretching of muscles and tendons), accompanied by tissue swelling and severe pain. The drug shows a good analgesic effect, positively affecting not only the muscles, but also the connective tissue of the joints. Therefore, it is successfully used in the treatment of arthritis and synovitis.
It is recommended to use the ointment 2 times a day, applying a thin layer on a sore spot and rubbing it slightly into the skin. The course of treatment for severe pain is usually 5-7 days.
The drug is not used for the treatment of infants, patients with hypersensitivity to the components of the ointment and weeping wounds on the body. Ointment can not be applied to areas of skin on which there are wounds, scratches, inflammation.
Side effects of the drug in the form of hypersensitivity reactions occur rarely, but with frequent use of the ointment, a feeling of dryness of the skin may appear, and with prolonged use there is a risk of the appearance of foci of vesicular dermatitis.
- Homeopathic ointment "Purpose T" of the German company Heel is a drug often prescribed for spinal pains caused by inflammatory and degenerative changes in the spine, bone lesions. This is a multi-component tool that is popular with spinal osteochondrosis due to its chondroprotective and analgesic properties.
If a person suffers from severe back pain, apply ointment 4-5 times a day. It can be applied to the skin and rubbed with gentle movements or apply under a bandage.
The drug has only one contraindication - hypersensitivity to at least one of its components. In pregnancy, the tool is used with caution after consultation with the gynecologist. From the side effects of the ointment there were complaints only about allergic reactions.
In acute forms of the disease, the healing effect of the ointment is felt even in the case of monotherapy with the drug, but in case of chronic severe pains this external remedy is better to be used as part of a complex therapy, including peroral medication.
- Ointment "Traumel C" German company Heel acts as an anesthetic and relieves inflammation, enhancing local immunity and tissue regeneration. But this drug is more effective if the pain syndrome is caused by a lesion of soft tissues: muscles, nerves, cartilage, ligaments, etc.
The drug is used for rubbing the skin over the affected area, compresses, applications 2-3 times a day for up to 4 weeks.
The ointment is not used for leukemia, tuberculosis, HIV infection, multiple sclerosis and hypersensitivity of the body to this homeopathic remedy. Side effects from its use are limited to mild allergic reactions.
Like the previous preparation, Traumeel shows high efficacy in case of mild and moderate pain syndrome, and in case of severe pain it should be used together with other preparations.
For the treatment of severe back pain by means of homeopathy to be effective, faith alone is not enough, it is important that the diagnosis and therapy of the pathology with which the pain is connected be carried out by specialists. Those. Before going to a homeopath, whose choice also affects the results of treatment (alas, there are no less charlatans now than experts in their field), you need to be examined in a medical institution, where the exact diagnosis will be made. And the homeopathic physician will only need to talk about the nature of the pain, the accompanying symptoms, the causes of the increase and decrease of the pain syndrome (heat-cold, motion-rest, etc.).