When it comes to recovering from a back injury, it's most important to really listen to your body. It sounds obvious, but it's human nature to want to do as much as possible to speed up recovery. Don't force anything.
The key is to achieve one victory at a time. Walk before your run.
Don't overlook how your diet affects your back recovery (see below). Eat a variety of clean, healthy foods that don't tax your digestive system, the state of which affects how your back feels.
Here are my four biggest tips for people recovering from a back injury:
1. Relax:
The most important thing that one can do when recovering from back pain is to relax. You need to relax for primarily two reasons: one most back pain isn't serious and chances are if you follow proper advice (like the examples listed in this article: Your Back Pain May Not Be All About Your Back) you're going to rid yourself of your back pain and the other reason is that the number one factor for back pain is stress. So relaxing and de-stressing is the most important thing that you can do to reduce your back pain
2. Listen to your body:
Your body speaks a language through tightness, pain and posture your body is speaking to you. Unfortunately we have spent way too much time trying to cover up what our body has been attempting to tell us with pain medication that we are missing some serious clues in what could be causing our back pain. So listen up and pay attention. For example if your back tends to hurt more after wearing certain types of shoes change up your shoes.
3. Build your
victories:
If you are just starting to get back to an exercise routine, slow and steady wins the race. Gradually increase your activity. As you continue to improve, do more and more in steady increments. People can get discouraged when they go from not exercising to exercising quite intensively.
4. Watch what
you eat:
The most missed reason for your back pain is your diet so for the next few weeks clean it up. Reduce or eliminate intake of sugar, caffeine, alcohol and junk food. These elevate cortisol levels, which raises inflammation in the back.
About the Author: Dr. Todd Sinett, a NYC-based chiropractor, challenges the current approach to back pain with a three-pronged approach that addresses structural, emotional and dietary factors to identify and treat the root cause of the pain in order to help his patients lead healthier, happier lives. Devoted to providing his expertise beyond his clientele, Sinett is the author of 3 Weeks to a Better Back (October 2015), and The Truth About Back Pain, his first title. Sinett is also the creator of the BackBridge™ System, the first and only back pain device developed to help relieve core imbalance with stackable levels to help users gain flexibility and improve the health of their spine in just two minutes a day. For more information about Dr. Sinett, please visit www.drsinett.com.
