What exactly is back pain and why do so many people suffer from this problem? Back pain is caused by many different activities or illnesses and from accidents causing trauma. You can hurt your back playing sport, doing chores around your home, house repairs or gardening. There may be mild to severe arthritis causing back pain or you may experience a sudden jarring when you are in a car accident. We humans are prone to back injuries, and statistics show that about 80% of all adults suffer from mild to severe back pain during some stage of their lives.  

Your lower back pain might be short term and last only for a few days or sometimes a few weeks. Your symptoms can be from mild to severe with muscle aches or stabbing pain. You may have limited motion or flexibility or you may find that you cannot stand up straight. If the pain persists for longer than 3 months it is classified as chronic. Often the pain progresses and it is not always easy to determine exactly what is causing the back pain.  

Many of us decide to self-medicate and self-diagnosed our back pain problems. It is always advisable to seek professional advice before you decide to treat yourself. There are many treatments available for back pain that does not involve surgery. The main course of treatment is bed rest for one or two days to allow the body to start the healing process. You can use over-the-counter painkillers to give you respite and comfort from the pain, as well as anti-inflammatory drugs to combat the inflammation that arises with back injuries. Often you have to use a combination of over-the- counter remedies with the medication that your doctor prescribes for you to alleviate the pain and heal the injury. The ultimate goal is get your back to its previous normal functioning state; to strengthen your back to try and avoid a similar occurrence. 

Although bed rest is crucially important, it is also important for you to get back to being active as soon as possible. A combination of cold and hot compresses to relieve inflammation while you are having bed rest; taking prescription and non-prescription painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs all work together to ease the pain and allow your body to heal itself.  

You can speed your recovery up by doing exercises as prescribed by your doctor or physiotherapist. It is also advisable once you have recovered from your back injury to start on an exercise programme to strengthen your back and abdominal muscles. Once you have strengthened these muscles, your chances of recurring injury will lessen with a big margin. 

Most of the time you will totally recover from your back pain episode and resume your normal daily activities. With the proper caution and following an exercise regime to strengthen the muscles supporting your back, you should be less prone to back pain. Try to avoid situations that aggravate or can cause back pain such as an awkward posture, incorrectly lifting heavy objects or participating in sport when you are not fit enough, and you will be on the road to a healthy back.