After a hiatus from writing and some time to develop myself, I wanted to share what I have learned over the last year and a half on my healing path in treating my spinal injuries. Nothing I say will be revelatory, but I can say that this is what truly worked for me in reducing my chronic back pain. From a pain that robbed the life out of my day to a milder, more manageable version. I feel mended now with confidence that my body is working as it should, which is a drastically different experience from two years ago, living with the consistent worry that my left leg wouldn't do what I always needed. It has been a slow road, and the improvements were bitterly gradual, but my chosen healing path worked for me, so here it is.
You must strive for total body mobility, flexibility, and strength to improve back pain. I'm not talking about being a He-man or She-hulk deadlifting a Prius or becoming so agile that thousands of devoted followers worship you as a Yoga icon. I am highlighting that for back pain to be reduced and manageable, your muscles, especially in your back along your spine, need to be relaxed, durable, and elastic. This is often difficult to do, especially considering that to protect your spine or other muscles in your back from further injury, back muscles will remain overly constricted to prevent potentially damaging movement. Compounding this, your body must receive what it needs to repair your back muscles and spine. Not painkillers and excessively dosed anti-inflammatories numbing life away, but foods and supplements designed to nourish and regenerate. When paired with the right amount of exercise and rest, the path to reduced back pain is laid out.
Stretching. The most remarkable long-term improvements in my pain levels came from repetitive stretching. It's not just about stretching before and after exercising but making it part of your daily routine. I stretch in an early morning hot shower, at my desk throughout the day, and before I sleep. Seated spinal twists, child's pose, standing roll down, knees-to-chest, and prone bridging are just a few back stretches that should be paired with full-body stretches to improve overall flexibility and mobility.
Cardio. Ego aside, the key to back pain-reducing cardio is to avoid repetitive asphalt pounding and trade it for vigorous cardio machines that create fluid movements. If you want to run, keep it at shorter distances. I kept my running distances under three miles and enhanced my workouts with ellipticals, biking, swimming, and stair masters. Twenty minutes or more of daily cardio proved to be the right recipe. Pay close attention to your pain when doing cardio and potential tingling in your feet or legs. Too much of either pain or tingling and your body is telling you to back off.
Lifting. Lifting four to five days a week has been a blessing. Light to medium weight paired with five or six highly varied exercises per muscle group that featured sets of 8x6 or 4x20 put me right where I wanted to be. Taking a rest day every third or fourth day of lifting and taking a rest week every eight to ten weeks of consecutive exercise allowed my body to rest without becoming too fatigued or broken. This approach built strength in my back without using a weight that would further damage my spine while allowing my body to recover and regenerate.
Core strength. Core strength may or may not derive from lifting. It all depends on your exercise load. However, it deserves separate attention from lifting as core strength is directly connected to reducing back pain. Planks, hip thrusters, balance boards, and most forms of yoga can build pain-reducing core strength that improves the stabilizing muscles in the hips and along the spine. Integrating one or two core-specific exercises before or after a workout can make it easy to build core strength over time.
Sauna. Get into a sauna two or three times a week for 10-20 minutes at 150-170 degrees for a traditional sauna and 120-130 degrees for an infrared sauna. This will reduce recovery times and promote muscle growth while loosening your back muscles. I wish I had done more of this, but finding an affordable gym or facility that has a sauna is often challenging.
Ice bath. I went four years with chronic pain without relief until I got into an ice bath. There are a lot of opinions on how best to do an ice bath, but I found getting into an ice bath at 55 degrees for 10-15 minutes two or three times a week reduced my back pain and provided a crisp mental clarity.
Sleep. Seven to nine hours of nocturnal bliss is perfect. Less sleep will prevent adequate rest and healing, while more sleep will stiffen the body. For those with back pain, a medium-firm bed provides the firmness required to support your back during sleep but the softness to make your sleep enjoyable.
Supplements. I made a distinct decision when I started my healing path to stay away from medication to help reduce my pain. However, taking the right supplements to feed my body and aid recovery was a different story. Glucosamine chondroitin, fish oils, and a daily vitamin are a minimum when aiding your spine's or back's recovery. The benefit doesn't come from taking the supplement intermittently but over the years. You will rarely be able to personally distinguish any benefit, but an MRI will tell you a different story as discs in your spine start regrowing.
Listen to your body. I have discussed this before, but listening to your body is vital. Too much pain may tell you that your back isn't ready for an exercise, or too much fatigue may demand you rest more. Conversely, some exercises may feel better and provide noticeable improvements in pain, signaling you to maintain or repeat the exercise in your future workout load.
There is no single solution to improving your back pain, but combining approaches can provide a way forward. A way forward that may take a year to show promise but is worth the journey. I narrowed my pain-relieving approach to creating mobility, flexibility, and strength through exercise, rest, and ensuring proper nutrition through supplements. However, I know where the pain in my back stems from. For those who are inflicted with radiating pain from other ailments not necessarily associated with spinal or muscle issues located in their backs, the same approach may not yield similar results. All I can do is share my journey and what I have learned along the way.
There is always a path in the rising.
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