> Health and Disease > Pain Management > back pain

You’re doubled over or lying flat with spasms. Every little move causes agony. If it’s your back that hurts, the pain becomes the centre of your universe. No wonder: the back is your physical centre–it connects your upper body to your lower body, and it is needed for almost all activities of daily living.

It’s an oft-cited statistic that most back pain will improve within six weeks, regardless of the treatment method, but this is small comfort when you’re counting the days (42) and hours (1,008) until the pain goes away. While I can’t promise instant relief, I have found there is much you can do to alleviate back pain, promote healing and prevent reinjury.

Avoid Bed Rest

If your back pain is severe, one to two days of bed rest may be appropriate to reduce pressure on the discs and avoid nerve irritation. Prolonged bed rest, however, will worsen your condition by hastening the loss of muscle, bone and cardiovascular fitness. These declines affect your posture, strength and flexibility, placing added stresses on your spine.

If you do spend a day or two in bed to recuperate, get up and walk around every few hours, even if it’s painful. To soothe inflammation and ease muscle spasms, apply ice several times a day for up to 20 minutes at a time.

Relieve Pain Naturally

In the long run, drugs such as muscle relaxants, prescription painkillers and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs such as Aspirin and ibuprofen) do much more harm than good. Instead, try these natural substances that relieve pain and inflammation without causing addiction, sedation, gastrointestinal bleeding and other drug-related side-effects.

Turmeric, the yellow-orange spice in curry, has perhaps the strongest anti-inflammatory activity of all the medicinal herbs. It has even been compared to NSAIDs in terms of effectiveness. Curcumin is the active component in turmeric. Take 200 milligrams of a standardized curcumin extract daily.

Ginger is another natural anti-inflammatory. Get fresh ginger at the grocery store and eat a little every day, or supplement with 100 mg daily.

Enzymes are also effective in reducing swelling and alleviating pain. My favourites are bromelain, an enzyme from pineapple (250 to 500 mg twice daily), and formulas that contain bromelain, papain from papaya and other enzymes. Take as directed on an empty stomach and avoid if you are allergic to pineapple or papaya.

Arnica is a common homeopathic for traumatic injury. Best used immediately after injury, it rapidly decreases pain and promotes tissue healing. Arnica is available in sublingual or topical preparations and is found in most health food stores. Take as directed for both types of preparations.

Don’t forget the mineral magnesium, which is a natural muscle and nerve relaxant. In a 2001 German study, four weeks of supplementation with magnesium relieved back pain by 49 per cent. For optimal relief, I recommend 1,000 mg magnesium, balanced with 2,000 mg calcium, daily.

An Attractive Therapy For Pain

I became a convert to magnet therapy after one of my patients told me she relieved a painful arthritis flare-up in her back by securing a magnet to the painful area. When I began wearing a magnet over my lumbar spine, my own low back pain–a result of too many marathons during my heyday as a long-distance runner–was relieved.

Testimonials aside, there’s solid research to support the pain-relieving benefits of magnets. In a placebo-controlled study in the Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, the use of magnets provided significant, quick relief in patients suffering from post-polio pain. Other research has demonstrated positive findings in relieving pain from whiplash and head injuries, knee inflammation, diabetic neuropathy and carpal tunnel syndrome.

Magnets are exceptionally safe, but since their effects on pacemakers, insulin pumps, drug patches as well as pregnancy are unknown, I do not recommend using magnets if you are using one of these devices or are pregnant.

Hands-On Relief

Julian Whitaker, MD, has practised medicine for more than 26 years. Alongtime advocate of healthy living, he is the founder of the Whitaker Wellness Institute Medical Clinic in Newport Beach, Calif., and editor of the monthly newsletter, Health and Healing. Dr. Whitaker is the author of eight major health books, including Reversing Hypertension, Reversing Diabetes and Reversing Heart Disease (Warner Books). For more information, visit drwhitaker.com or call 1-800-539-8219.

Source: alive #240, October 2002