Every eight people in ten has neck and back pain sometimes in their life. You can feel acute pain, or it can disappear after a few days or weeks. Some people may get pain after a non-surgical treatment or a surgical one and need to contact pain management doctors. If your pain persists for a long time and impacts your daily life – this is called chronic pain. Here are suggestions for you to get rid of the pain.
What to Do to Heal the Pain?
To control the chronic pain, you must restrict some of your vigorous activities. You may take over-the-counter medications as most of the pains come from muscle pain. In a few cases, the pain may go away after a few days. Here are the tips for you.
Go Easy
If you think you are pressuring your back, go easy with it as it may hurt your back. Many people actually have restricted choices and they may bend their knees due to immense pain. Some may continue to work with uncomfortable pain.
Ice and Heat
Start ice compressing and continue it for 48 hours. After 48 hours, the effects will start fading out and then apply heat to regulate blood flow and relax the muscle spasms. It will loosen the muscles and reduce the pain that comes from strain. This process is helpful because, ice and heat application reduces swelling and inflammation as it acts as a local anesthesia.
Over-the-counter Medicines
Inflammation is the protection of the body against injury which is defined by redness, heat, swelling, and pain. For help treat and alleviate pain, it is often advised to use drugs like ibuprofen, aspirin or ketoprofen. Such medications are referred to as non-steroidal and anti-inflammatory medicines (NSAIDs) that effectively cut down inflammation and relieve pain.
Stretching
You can help to avoid neck pain by keeping the monitor at eye level, straight up, without tilting or turning your head down or sideways while you are on the screen. If you drive or look at your camera, make sure your neck does not bend excessively for long periods of time.
Sleeping Positions
If your neck troubles you, you should also be careful about your sleep positions. Only lie on your side or back, and avoid pressurizing your abdomen. When you sleep on your back, sometimes you move your head for hours one way or the other. Sleeping on your belly can also impact your low back because your belly falls into the bed if your support is not adequate.
Other Tips
- Stay active but avoid painful activities. It will help to reduce inflammation.
- Do slow motion activities and exercises like up and down, side to side etc. It will help the neck and muscles to stretch gently.
- Ask a professional to give a gentle massage to the affected areas.
For severe pain, call neck and back doctors near you. Visit Neuroscience Specialists and let us check your conditions.
**Information presented here is not intended to be qualified medical advice. Nothing expressed herein creates a doctor-patient relationship.