If you suffer from back pain, there are some techniques that may help to reduce it. Eight out of 10 people will experience back pain at some point in their life according to the National Institutes of Health. Back pain is one of the main reasons many people to lose time from work every year. If you have chronic back pain with numbness in your legs, see your primary care physician, as it can indicate a serious health condition.
Tens Units
According to the Tens Units Website, when you are in pain, your muscles will naturally tense up, resulting in reduced blood flow to painful areas. A transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulator, or TENS unit, is a device that can help to relieve your back pain by allowing your blood to freely circulate to the painful areas. TENS units can also help to release endorphins and enkaphalines, which are natural hormones that help to relieve pain. TENS units work by interfering with the communication of pain experienced by your nerves to your brain. You place small electrodes on your skin where the pain is and set the amplitude by the control settings. A low-voltage current travels through your skin to your nerve pathways, which produces a comforting tingling or massaging sensation that can reduce your pain.
Heat Therapy
Heat therapy can loosen up muscles and ligaments resulting in less pain. It works by increasing blood circulation to painful areas, resulting in less pain. Arthritic symptoms such as inflammation and joint stiffness can benefit from heat therapy. Heat therapy can also provide temporary relief to pain experienced by injury. Heat therapy comes in the form of hot packs, infrared heat, paraffin wax and hydrotherapy, which is warm water therapy in the form of a whirlpool.
Cold Therapy
Cold therapy, also known as cryotherapy, provides pain relief by temporarily numbing painful tissue. It can take the form of an ice bag, a cold pack or certain fluids known as ethyl chloride that provide pain relief when they evaporate. Long periods of exposure to cold temperatures can damage tissue, use caution when practicing this type of therapy. People who have peripheral artery disease should not use cryotherapy.
Ultrasound Therapy
Ultrasound therapy works by sending small amounts of vibrations to the painful area. The vibrations increase heat and blood flow to the area, resulting in reduced pain and inflammation. A small wand is applied to your skin above the painful site. Ultrasound therapy can help your tight muscles and adds flexibility to them. This type of therapy can help conditions such as sciatica and herniated discs. Do not use ultrasound therapy following an immediate injury, if you have cancer or any type of infection or fracture, or if you are pregnant.
