Backache: 7 Unusual solutions to reducing the pain

Lindsay POUI-DI 15 Feb 2015 updated the 6 October 2015 à 23:21

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Sing
Music soothes the soul, but also the back! “Ground your voice, it is essential to be anchored well on your feet, in a stable position, the pelvis slightly tipped over forwards (buttocks tight and abs tensed)”, explains Caroline Lambert, Vice President of the French Association of Chiropractors. In this position, the spine straightens and the tension in the shoulders is released. The more you practice, the more this good posture becomes automatic, which relieves lumbar vertebrae. As a bonus, the vibration of the song inside the body, in particular at the level of the spine, causes the muscles in the back to relax.
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Vitamin D
Several studies have established a clear link between a low rate of vitamin D and the appearance of unexplained chronic lumbago; particularly in women. Vitamin D is also essential to maintain solid bones and avoid fractures that could severely affect the spine’s resistance. A simple blood test performed by the doctor will reveal any deficiency. If needed, the doctor can then prescribe an adapted treatment, whether as drops to take daily (Zyma D), or in a concentrate form (for example Uvedose 100 000 UI to take, according to the prescription, monthly or quarterly).
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Start Qi Gong or Tai Chi sessions
Since 2013, Tai Chi and Qi Gong are officially recognised as additional therapies by the Academy of Medicine, and have been adopted in around 40 hospitals. These disciplines, practised in China for millennia, associate wide movements, stretching and breathing activities with being beneficial to our backs. The movements are gentle and do not put pressure on the spine, contrary to certain more aggressive movements of yoga (candle, complete contortion). “Before, I raised my shoulders, bust ahead, believing that I was straightening my back. I got it all wrong. Qi Gong allowed me to manage my body posture differently”, states Marie-Christine, who has been exercising for two years. “I learnt to direct my weight downward through my legs and upward through the top of my skull. As a result, my spine is relieved naturally without any pressure. I now maintain proper posture with joints that are as supple as a cat.”
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Lose weight
The larger the stomach is, the more the curve is tensed. “When we gain 5 kg, ourcentre of gravity moves forward by 1cm. As a result, our body becomes more and more bent, the pressure on the spine is accentuated and back pain can develop”, notices Caroline Lambert. Losing weight relieves the pressure on the back, even if at the beginning it cantemporarily intensify the pain: “It is about the body’s adaptation, because the brain is not used to our new centre of gravity”, specifies the specialist. To avoid this, it is better to lose weight very gradually. If an important loss of weight is mandatory, it is necessary to manage several weeks of 'breaks' between every 5kg lost. This gives the spine time to get used to the new posture.
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Bet on the virtues of water
The balneology and the back pain is a winning team. From now on, balneo spas, such as Jonzac, Rochefort or Aix-les-Bains, offer very sophisticated cures for chronic lumbago and cervical pains, in addition to the traditional care with waters filled with minerals (iron, sulphur) and therapeutic mud, soft gymnastics, relaxation therapy session and posture workshops. In immersion for six days or in cure for three weeks, these processes allow individuals to discover and appropriate the movements that can save and/ or relieve the spine.
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Meditation
Meditating every day modifies the way our brain works. We become more open and more susceptible to positive feelings.
Meditation is practised bust straightened, cross-legged, hands opened on the front of the thighs. The breath and the wide opening of the rib cage allow us to maintain a back straight and reduce tension (at the trapezius muscles and loins areas). “Unfortunately, 50 percent of people do not succeed in maintaining the right posture and in meditating comfortably”, notices Caroline Lambert. The chiropractor recommends buying a meditation bench of 10 cm height or to prop up two pillows under the buttocks. The pelvis falls over forwards and the position is easier to maintain naturally with real benefits for the back when the practice is regular.
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Embark on cognitive behavioural therapy
“We are far from imagining that the back and cervical pains are due to anxiety. Moreover, doctors do not immediately make the link. Nevertheless, the brain registers the fragile area and at every new stress it reactivates the pain”, notices Dr Olivier Dubois. “The body reacts automatically, by reproducing the previous pain; it follows the same nervous pathways.” When the back pain occurs or returns, we imagine we are never going to get rid of it. We run to the doctors, and undergo multiple examinations without answer. It is a vicious circle; anxiety generates or increases the pain, which in turn increases the anxiety. There is no lesion nor trauma (the examinations established it). The pain exists, it is not made up, but it translates only as strong anxiety. Once the diagnosis is complete, cognitive and behavioural therapies allow us to think about our thoughts and our cognitive distortion. “As a result, we worry less, and have less pain; it is a virtuous circle”, summarises the psychiatrist. In some sessions, the backache that has persisted for weeks or months can be considerably relieved, and even disappear if it is a purely functional problem.

You have already researched existing treatments, but you still regularly suffer with your back. Here are other ways to explore and find total relief from backache at last.

Medicine, regular visits to the chiropractor or the osteopath, massages with essential oil, purchase of a mattress that memorises your body’s shape and lumbar cushion, reorganisation of your workspace to make it more ergonomic… You have tried everything but to no avail; your back still aches. Good news? Certain practices you may not have considered can reduce, even eradicate, the residual or chronic pain. These can be used in isolation or in parallel to your usual methods of finding relief for backaches.

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Backache: 7 Unusual solutions to reducing the pain

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