Back treatment

Back treatment should begin with the fact that you must first meet with a vertebrologist, physiotherapist, chiropractor, or osteopath who will make an accurate diagnosis and determine a treatment strategy. However, further back treatment depends only on you. Many of the practitioners are able to perfectly eliminate the complex compression of the vertebral segments, but their efforts will not be able to rid you of the problem. You must help yourself - and do it confidently. Even a magician therapist who "plays" on the spine like a virtuoso pianist can only correct that aspect of your problem that can be influenced by hands. Only you yourself can finally eliminate the compression of your spinal column and restore control over your muscles.

A therapist who does not involve the patient himself is unlikely to achieve long-term success. Most patients would gladly participate in their own healing if they knew how. A quick pinch here, then another, and then a request to come back in a couple of weeks is unlikely to achieve much unless the person does the work between sessions. The recovery period may be very short compared to the period of destruction, but it still takes time. This is a long-term treatment of the back that must be progressive, starting from the moment the problem is stopped and all processes are reversed. A disorder that has been developing for years cannot be cured instantly, especially if the factors that caused it (such as gravity and the upright posture of man) are unchanged.

First of all, you need to remove the compression of the spine. No one will do it for you. You may also need to remove the contracture of the soft tissues of the back. No one will do it for you. You need to restore the strength of the weakened muscles. No one will do it for you. So, with the exception of releasing the spinal segment with your hands, which you are unlikely to ever be able to do, you do all the rest of the work to restore health yourself. And remember that you have a great advantage - intuition and inner feelings that guide you from within.

The main thing in self-treatment is to minimize the compression of the damaged link and restore its mobility. This can be achieved by traction of the spine, during which the segments are separated, and then you can move on. Reducing the vertical compression allows the disc to properly hydrate and become more elastic. This way, it better absorbs shocks and is less injured, and also protects the articular surfaces of the facet joints from excessive interaction. It acts as a support on which the segment tilts, while the deep back muscles at the back control the forward tilt of the vertebra, pulling it like a horse with reins; all of them pulling at the most advantageous angle for them. When the disc flattens, this reciprocating movement decreases, and the whole system fails. Tension appears and, ultimately, pain. Therefore, disc restoration is your first task. The key to treatment is much easier to find if you know the cause of the disease.

Treatment of the back in case of problems with the spine involves performing several simple exercises in a certain sequence, and not at all their variety. And since compression of the segment is the initial disorder, entailing all the others, the basic methods of treatment are the same in all cases, even the most complex ones. The same exercises are the most effective: pulling the knees to the chest; rolling on the back; squatting; using a block for the back, a tennis ball and a back roller; forward bends from a lying position, strengthening the abdominal muscles; regular and diagonal bends with touching the toes; diagonal twisting in a lying position; bending the body from the edge of the table.

However, you must remember that the treatment of the back and each disorder must proceed at a certain pace. You must strictly adhere to the regimen, while at the same time adjusting it according to your feelings. You need to achieve a delicate balance between adherence to the regimen and rest. Act, but do not force things. Strictly follow the requirements, but try not to disturb your back. Try to adapt the treatment of the back to your condition.

Let your instincts guide you. You may sometimes overwork your back, but remember that pain is just a distress signal, and people are often afraid of the wrong things. They are overprotective of their health and are ready to do everything to prevent pain and “wall it up” inside their back.

The discomfort is instantly eliminated by a simple act of will, forcing the muscles around the sore spot to relax. This can be done at any time: while walking, waiting for the elevator, or when making your bed. As soon as you feel a muscle spasm starting, concentrate on relaxing the muscles. This will be an important milestone in the fight against the disease.

Most often, self-medication is ineffective when you try too hard to get rid of the pain. Perhaps you are not calm or persistent enough; or, on the contrary, you are too determined and determined to get well quickly.

The main thing in the process of self-healing is to move forward, calmly but purposefully; without excessive timidity, and not too aggressively. Just go step by step towards your goal, quickly reacting to everything that happens.

Don't despair: at some point, everyone somehow turns off the straight path to recovery. It seems like a road to nowhere, that if you did everything right, there shouldn't be any pain. Today you feel more broken than yesterday, you feel sick, you feel pain.

Calm down and wait out the storm. Do everything you can to avoid panicking. Your back is simply resenting the new rules of the game, and it is very important not to give in to it. It is necessary to reduce the load for a couple of days, but do not stop under any circumstances. Remember that the road only leads one way - forward. Having reached the very source of the problem, it is vital to keep moving so that in the end you will have something to be proud of when the raging ocean calms down.

You won't get there if you stop halfway. You'll be left feeling like all the steps you took only made your condition worse. You triggered the root cause of the problem and caused an angry backlash that lasted for weeks or even months, but by giving up, you never got to the end and didn't see any noticeable improvement.

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Back treatment and bed rest

Sometimes the back pain is so severe that you are unable to start exercising. In such cases, it is best to stay in bed and take medication.
Bed rest is usually not easy. People have a hard time adjusting to changes in their lives, and it always seems that there is an easier way. But now you just have to rest. Moreover, doing nothing should be done with all humility, without getting irritated, otherwise it will not do you any good.

If the inflammation is severe, you may experience pain again after doing the exercises, mimicking the original pain. In the chronic phase of the disease, the increased pain is quite bearable, but with acute inflammation of the segment, it seems that you have become much worse after treatment. Bed rest, creating long periods of rest between difficult exercises, allows the back to recover, after which therapy can be continued.

When you lie down, the spine is not compressed by gravity and the spinal segment begins to release. This is already the first step leading to pain relief. In a horizontal position, not only is the metabolism in the problematic link normalized, but muscle spasm is also weakened. As the muscles relax, the pain weakens and blood circulation is restored. Toxic products of the inflammatory process are naturally removed from the nerve endings, and the pain becomes inconstant. Once the protective spasm is eliminated, the recovery processes will immediately begin to gain strength.

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How to stay on bed rest

The surface you are lying on should be horizontal and level (a sofa is not quite suitable for this purpose). You can get up to take a shower and change clothes, but after that you should immediately go back to bed and stay there, perhaps for several days.

Place only one pillow under your head, two at most. Don't make a mountain out of them that causes your back to arch deeply. If you feel uncomfortable even lying down, leave one pillow under your head and place several under your lower shins so that your legs are at right angles to your torso. This relieves the pressure in your lumbar-sacral region.

Even in bed, try to be as active as possible. Don’t lie still, that’s contrary to our goals. Be relaxed and active enough, but remember to keep your back horizontal. Try to do the exercises below from time to time. Rest in the position that you feel most comfortable in (although any position becomes uncomfortable if you lie in it for too long, and you’ll have to change it). Place everything you might need within reach: your phone, books, and some food. Your back needs time and rest, so get out of the game and enjoy your rest.

You need to get up very carefully. To do this, you will have to move to the edge of the bed and hang your legs. Get up sideways, pushing off the bed with both hands and pulling in your stomach. When the body takes a vertical position, the legs will fall to the floor themselves. You should not get up more than two or three times a day.

Back treatment with medications

We still don't like taking pills, just like we don't like lying in bed. People don't want to play a game that may never end. But if bed rest frees you from the chaotic life that pain rules, then medications give you the opportunity to change your ideas about your back. The mere fact that you finally gave in and started taking pills frees you from the strict adherence to your old, unshakable life principles. Drugs, especially muscle relaxants, help clear the battlefield and pave a new course of self-treatment. Having received the coveted respite from pain, you think about your problem (and this is very important), that is, thanks to drugs, the foundation is laid for a new attitude towards yourself, calmer and more focused. Correctly prescribed drugs in combination with physical exercise are exactly what you need to get through all the adversity with dignity.

Your doctor may prescribe three types of medications: pain relievers, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and muscle relaxants.

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Painkillers and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs

The choice of painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs should be discussed with your doctor. He knows the medicinal properties and features of different drugs and, based on your medical history, will select the best ones for you. Back treatment has one goal - to get rid of pain, so the more powerful the painkiller, the better, but you should only take it for a short time and under the supervision of a doctor. Tablets are taken three times a day (morning, afternoon and evening) to get rid of pain for a whole day. (There are many different painkillers on sale, but keep in mind that codeine-based drugs can cause constipation, which will only worsen back pain.)

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs also come in a variety of names, such as Naproxen, Voltaren, etc. Their role is to actively suppress the inflammatory process, which is the main source of pain. By relieving pain, they allow the affected structure to function normally, but more importantly, they allow you to move on to more vigorous treatment methods. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs should be taken with extreme caution, as they irritate the intestines and cause nausea. Take them with food to minimize side effects.

Physical exercise irritates the tissue to some extent. All movements that restore mobility to the segment push it to the very limit of its capabilities and provoke an inflammatory reaction. All back treatment is designed to artificially affect the problematic link, causing a rush of blood to it. Treatment comes down to targeted movement, which, unlike everyday actions, will not cause you harm. But because of this, the joint can swell, especially when it is already inflamed. If you are not careful, you risk causing an acute reaction in response to mechanical action.

Sometimes this response can be so strong that it seems as if the treatment has made your condition worse. Usually, even after the most severe exacerbation, it eventually gets better, although this is of little consolation when you are experiencing severe pain. You need to try and convince yourself that your end justifies the means and that you have something to endure all this pain for. Unless you are immobilized by muscle spasm during such exacerbations (and this can really make you worse), the degree of the response to treatment will be directly proportional to the subsequent improvement. Moreover, at this stage, back pain should be perceived as a favorable sign. Over time, you will realize that the pain caused by the response to treatment is qualitatively different and fundamentally different from what you experienced before.

The best tactic is to minimize the pain in the first place; nip it in the bud and break the vicious circle. So it makes sense to take medications in advance, knowing that the treatment will cause a reaction one way or another. Before you start exercising, protect your back with a pain-proof "bulletproof vest". When your condition normalizes, you simply stop taking the medications and live your life without pain and without pills.

Muscle relaxants

Sometimes, for a variety of reasons, muscles can get out of control and only make things worse. The inflammatory process has progressed to such an extent that the protective contraction of the muscles is just one manifestation of an ever-increasing reaction. Muscle spasm is a completely natural phenomenon, if you do not experience pain. However, the strength of the spastic reaction at the same degree of joint inflammation may differ in different people. This depends on many factors, not least on the person's personality traits, as well as the presence or absence of other emotional stresses in his life, some of which may be buried deep in the unconscious.

It is no exaggeration to say that muscle spasm alone can turn mild discomfort into tragedy. It can force other structures to shift so much that the back becomes incurable. Muscle spasm is a completely unpredictable factor in back pain. It can continue indefinitely, even when the original cause that caused it has long been eliminated. In other words, the entire chain inflammatory reaction often rests on it alone. Spasmed muscles hurt in themselves (as any muscle with a cramp does), but their constant contraction also prevents normal blood circulation in the entire affected area. Pain occurs both because the muscles are tense for too long and because they do not have enough oxygen.

Muscle spasm can make a person feel anxious, frustrated, or even depressed, which is enough to start a vicious cycle - and that's why you need muscle relaxants. Relieving muscle tension, even if it's chemically induced, breaks the connection between pain and the pain response, creating optimal conditions for the healing process.

Therefore, back treatment involves the use of muscle relaxants, which weaken any spasm, regardless of whether it is caused by emotional or organic reasons. The best is "Diazepam" (also known as "Seduxen", "Valium"), a tranquilizer with muscle relaxant properties, although it also has its drawbacks.

When you can't move without immediate pain, Valium relaxes your muscles (though it does slow down your mental activity to some extent). The drug is addictive and can also accumulate in your body, so it should only be taken under strict medical supervision. When you've pulled your back and the first pain in your leg has appeared, sometimes taking a Valium and going to bed early is enough to make it go away.

In acute pain, the dose should be large enough to cause drowsiness. It is best to take 5 mg 3 times a day (morning, afternoon and evening). Due to the effect of the drug, you will want to go to bed, you will feel relaxed, all the structures in your painfully twisted back will finally be able to free themselves and rest. When the attack passes, you are unlikely to remember the sequence of events in these days. As soon as mobility begins to recover, and the pain subsides, you can stop taking the drugs.

It may happen that you temporarily lose control over the recovery process, and it seems to you that the treatment of your back is ineffective. The improvement suddenly stops, although everything was going smoothly before; you are literally pierced by a severe attack of pain. You are overcome by despair and self-doubt. You do not understand what happened, and are afraid to move on. But if you have stopped, consider that the disease has defeated you.