First Aid for Back Pain

When you first feel a catch or strain in your back, try these steps to avoid or reduce expected pain. These are the most important home treatments for the first few days of back pain.

Ice
As soon as possible apply ice or a cold pack to your injured back (10 - 15 minutes every hour).  Cold limits swelling, reduces pain and speeds healing.

Pelvic Tilts
This exercise gently moves the spine and stretches the lower back. Lie on your back with knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Slowly tighten your stomach muscles and press your lower back against the floor. Hold for 10 seconds (do not hold your breath). Slowly relax.

Walk
Take short walk (three to five minutes) on a level surface (no inclines) every three hours. Walk only distances you can manage without pain, especially leg pain.

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Complimentary Therapies Are on the Rise

Back pain is common in the U.S., affecting 8 out of 10 people at some point in their lives, according to Medline Plus, a publication of the National Institutes of Health, with research proving that massage therapy has been shown to improve back pain. In new research, investigators from the Division for Research and Education in Complementary and Integrative Medical Therapies, Harvard Medical School Osher Research Center set out to examine the associations between the perceived helpfulness of various complementary and alternative therapies (CAM), of which massage is one, for back pain. Other CAM therapies include chiropractic, herbs, tai chi, yoga and meditation. The investigators used data from the 2002 National Health Interview Survey, according to a press release published on www.pubmed.gov. Among the results:

• Approximately 6 percent of the U.S. population used CAM to treat their back pain in 2002. Sixty percent of respondents who used CAM for back pain perceived a "great deal" of benefit.

• The factor associated with perceived benefit from CAM modalities was reporting that a reason for using CAM was that "conventional medical treatment would not help."

• The two factors associated with less perceived benefit from CAM modalities were fair-to-poor self-reported health status and referral by a conventional medical practitioner for CAM. "The majority of respondents who used CAM for back pain perceived benefit," the investigators noted. "Specific factors and therapies associated with perceived benefit warrant further investigation." The article ran in the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine.

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