Back Pain Management Strategies: What Makes Sense For You?

When you have back pain, any part of your body that you move causes discomfort. Oftentimes, this leaves people feeling hopeless, unmotivated, and unproductive. Instead of waiting the pain out, there are several strategies that you can utilize to manage your back pain. 

Your doctor might recommend chiropractic care, physical therapy, or massage therapy. In this blog, we’re talking a bit about each of these methods for back pain management, and how they work together to relieve your pain. 

What Causes Chronic Back Pain? 

By definition, chronic back pain is defined as back pain that isn’t caused by a disease and lasts for more than three months. It may subside and flare up again after a short time has passed. Chronic back pain isn’t a clear-cut diagnosis—rather, a symptom that might be the result of a cause other than a disease such as arthritis, osteoporosis, or another illness. 

Chronic back pain might be caused by a past injury that didn’t heal properly, repeated stress from a physically demanding job, improper form while working out or lifting weights, or another condition impacting the joints. In some, one leg is ever-so-slightly longer than the other, which may not be visibly noticeable but can cause stress to muscles and joints resulting in chronic back pain.  Aging can also cause tendons, ligaments, and muscles to weaken, resulting in pain from stress. 

In order to determine the cause of your chronic back pain and the best course of treatment, you’ll want to start by talking to your primary care doctor. They’ll work to diagnose the cause of your back pain, which may include some testing and X-rays. Once the cause is determined, they’ll make a recommendation for a treatment plan.

Massage Therapy For Back Pain

When it comes to managing back pain, massage therapy is a great addition to any treatment plan—in fact, many physical therapists and chiropractors recommend massage therapy to complement your other treatments. In a study found in the International Journal of Medicine, “there is emerging evidence that supports the effectiveness of massage therapy for the treatment of non-specific low back pain in the short term.”

While your back may feel fantastic after your massage, you want to make sure that the massage is not just providing temporary relief—which is why it’s important to talk to your doctor about your pain. At Massage Studio, every massage begins with a consultation where you discuss any soreness or tightness, as well as your preferences for your massage. From there, you simply have to lie back and let your expert therapist work their magic with a personalized massage that targets your problem areas. 

Chiropractic Care For Back Pain

Chiropractors take a hands-on approach to manipulate different parts of the patient’s body. The goal of these forceful manipulations is that the body will heal itself. In doing this, chiropractors require special equipment. Generally, a chiropractor will focus on pinpointed issues such as back pain or neck pain. 

Chiropractic care is primarily focused on the alignment of the spine and joints—by applying pressure on pain points, chiropractors are able to realign the bones and joints causing aches and chronic pain. Most chiropractors recommend coming in for adjustments at regular intervals. If you’re in severe pain, you might start with multiple adjustments a week, that over time will spread out to more “maintenance” focused adjustments on longer intervals, such as monthly or annually. 

Physical Therapy For Back Pain

A physical therapist focuses on non-invasive movements to help your body move better as a whole. Rather than joint alignment, physical therapy used both passive and active modalities to stretch and strengthen muscles. Passive modalities might include heat, ice packs, TENS therapy, and ultrasound therapy to soothe muscles, while active modalities include stretching, strength exercise, and aerobic exercise. Your unique “recipe” completely depends on what your physical therapist determines makes the most sense.

Physical therapy works through regular, ongoing visits which can be as frequent as multiple times a week, depending on your condition and severity of pain. You might do a combination of in-clinic visits and at-home exercises—many physical therapists will assign “homework” stretches and exercises to keep you active and soothe your pain when you’re not in the clinic. 

In the long term, chiropractic care and physical therapy are both effective in managing back pain. In a study done by the Department of Neuroscience and Locomotion, there was no difference in the improvement of back pain among a group of patients who varied between visiting a chiropractor and a physical therapist for a year.

Managing Your Back Pain

Just like there’s no single cause of chronic back pain, there is no single treatment plan that works universally. Finding the right mix of exercise, doctor’s office visits, and massage therapy may take some initial trial.

When it comes to your back, it’s important to remember that your entire care team is working toward the same goal—be sure to share with every professional you see what you’ve tried, and what other therapies you’re using, so that each professional can do their best work. We highly encourage you to talk to your primary doctor about visiting other professionals to get a course of action that works best for managing your back pain.

Whatever treatment plan ends up relieving your pain, it’s important to make sure you keep it up. Regular massage therapy is highly beneficial for back pain, and can be attained affordably with a Massage Studio membership. As always, we’re happy to answer questions about the benefits of massage therapy—don’t hesitate to get in touch!