Treating Back Pain With Alternative Methods

Neck and back pain is a common occurrence these days. All of us have experienced it on more than one occasion. Sometimes it is a bad sleep at night, sometimes a long day at the office and at times a sudden jerk is what causes a neck or back pain. Injuries to neck and back can be quite debilitating, as they can prevent you from performing even the simplest of your functions. You might find it difficult to get up and go from one place to another, leave aside working.

What is worse is that our sedentary lives have made us prone to frequent neck and back injuries. This is because we work in stationary positions for much longer duration while our bodies are not strong enough to put up with this kind of abuse. Exercise is hardly a part of our daily lives, which leaves us too weak to tolerate the onslaught of modern life.

There is ample medical help available, but much like our modern life, it too comes with a number of side effects. Therefore, popping the pill is no longer a viable solution. Therefore, people are turning to alternative remedies in a big way.

Massage, meditation and acupuncture are among the most preferred alternative treatments primarily because they come with no side effects and can cure the problem instead of providing a short-lived, quick fix relief.

Acupuncture is fast gaining ground as the foremost alternative treatment for treatment method. For those who are unfamiliar with it, it is a treatment that involves the inserting of needles at crucial points in the body. The insertion of needles at these points cures the pain and discomfort. It is a painless process and has been found to be very effective.

Massage, too, is coming up as a great way to relieve pain. It is primarily because massage facilitates the flow of blood, which, in turn, helps the healing process to a large extent besides relaxing the tensed muscles.

Meditation is yet another alternative remedy though it calls for a high degree of self-discipline for one to be able to perform it. But once you start meditating successfully, it not only relieves back pain but also infuses one's life with new energy.

Therefore, medication is not the only option you have for back pain relief. There are many more to choose from. And they come free of side effects. Choose the best one or use all or any of them in combination.

Back to Nature - 3 Herbs Help Alleviate Back Pain

After years of fiddling with allopathic medicine to ease back pain, scientists have now found that nature comes to help - again.

Researchers including Joel Gagnier, ND, of Canada's Provincial Medical Centre in Windsor, Ontario reviewed 10 studies with a total of 1,567 adults suffering from acute, sub acute or chronic lumber pain. Gagnier and colleagues confirmed the studies' methods and results, and put out their findings in The Cochrane Library.

What They Found

Devil's claw

The analysis showed that daily oral administration of 50 or 100 milligrams of devil's claw appeared to reduce back pain more than placebos, which are nothing but sugar pills given to a group in place of the real medication to figure out if the effect observed is due to the power of suggestion or the actual effect of the medicine.

White willow bark

Daily oral doses of 120 or 240 milligrams of white willow bark's active ingredient, salicin also appeared to have a positive effect on back pain.

Cayenne

Tested as a plaster applied to the skin, it, too, had a seemingly encouraging effect on back pain. These plasters equaled – but did not surpass – results for a homeopathic gel.

Study Quality

Gagnier and colleagues call the evidence for devil's claw "strong" as compared to "moderate" for white willow bark and cayenne plasters.

The review, however, expresses concern about the quality of some studies. The team also found possible disagreement of interest in six of the studies which may have biased those studies' results.

All studies were short, enduring up to six weeks, so long-term results are unavailable. Gagnier and his team suggest that additional high-quality studies are required, while noting that herbal medicines may vary in preparation and content.