Home remedies, such as hot or cold compresses, can help decrease lower back pain. Alternative therapies like acupuncture or chiropractic care may also provide some benefits. Traction and prescription drugs are other options.
You can experience lower back pain at any age, but it is especially common as you get older.
Discomfort in the lower back can be chronic (long-term) or acute (sudden and brief). Causes of lower back pain may include:
- muscle pulls and spasms
- nerve irritation
- spinal abnormalities, such as a slipped disc or spinal stenosis
Many treatment options are available for lower back pain, but they vary widely depending on the cause and severity of the condition.
Only short periods of bed rest are recommended to treat lower back pain. Many cases resolve themselves within a couple of days. Longer periods of inactivity can weaken muscles.
If your symptoms aren’t severe, you may simply need to reduce your level of activity for one or two days.
Lying on your back with a pillow under your knees helps keep your back in a neutral position. For more support overnight, you can try sleeping in this position or with a lumbar support pillow.
You might also find some relief by lying on the floor with your knees bent at a 90-degree angle and propped on a chair for short periods of time.
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Treat lower back pain with a hot or cold compress. Heat or ice packs can help increase your mobility and reduce pain.
Place an ice pack, bag of ice, or frozen vegetables on the tender areas of your lower back to help reduce inflammation. Wrap the ice pack in a towel to help protect your skin from frostbite.
You can use ice several times daily for up to 20 minutes at a time.
Making a homemade ice pack
Combine two parts water, one part alcohol, and dish soap (optional) in a freezer bag. Remove excess air, seal the bag, and freeze it until it forms a gel.
After a couple of days of cold treatment, switch to heat, such as with a heating pad or warm bath. The warmth will help loosen the tight muscles that may cause pain.
Turn off the heating pad before falling asleep to reduce the risk of burns.
Over-the-counter (OTC) pain relievers such as naproxen, ibuprofen, and acetaminophen may be most effective in reducing pain and swelling associated with muscle-related lower back pain.
However, OTC pain relievers are less likely to alleviate symptoms that stem from nerve compression or disk problems.
Contact your doctor if your back doesn’t feel better after a couple of days of rest, hot or cold compresses, and OTC pain relievers.
Your doctor might prescribe stronger medications to help relieve chronic lower back pain that OTC options don’t relieve.
Often, prescription NSAIDs alone or in combination with muscle relaxers are effective in managing lower back pain.
Your doctor may also prescribe antidepressants, narcotics such as codeine, and anticonvulsants to help treat lower back pain.
However, these have potentially dangerous side effects and are therefore not first-line treatments for back pain. In some cases, they may not help with general lower back pain and instead
Nerve discomfort, such as sciatica, may require corticosteroids and anesthetic medications injected to help reduce inflammation, as oral medications may not provide sufficient relief.
Corticosteroids can be injected intramuscularly, taken orally, or injected under fluoroscopy (as epidural steroid injection-ESI). Once the swelling of the nerve decreases, you’ll usually find some relief.
Exercise may be the last thing on your mind when your back hurts. However, gentle physical activity can sometimes help you recover from aches and pains.
Core exercises, such as pelvic tilts and bridges, can help strengthen the muscles in your abdomen and back that support your spine. The stronger these muscles are, the less likely you are to experience lower back pain.
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Swimming and walking are two more ways to help keep your back strong and maintain a moderate weight. Overweight and obesity can cause lower back pain by putting more pressure on your joints.
If your back pain doesn’t respond to conventional treatments, you may need to consider alternative options.
Traction uses a system of weights to help align your spine and possibly help slipped disks move back into place.
Ultrasound involves massaging the soft tissues around your back injury with sound waves that help warm your muscles, causing them to relax and heal more quickly.
Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is the electronic stimulation of your nerves through electrodes placed on your skin. The electricity blocks pain signals that travel through the nerve paths.
You’ll need to speak with your doctor to determine if these options are right for you.
Chiropractic care can help manually realign your spine and other weak or injured areas of your musculoskeletal system.
Acupuncture is a form of Traditional Chinese Medicine for treating illness and injury through the manipulation of pressure points.
It involves the insertion of fine, sterilized needles at specific points across your body to help reduce pain.
Relatively few people require surgery for chronic, severe back pain. However, it remains an option if all other treatments don’t provide relief.
A surgeon can remove small disk fragments that have broken off or disintegrated to relieve pressure on nerve paths.
They can also fuse together injured or abnormal vertebrae that cause lower back pain to help you straighten your back and regain mobility.
Back surgery, as with any other surgical procedure, carries risks. It’s used only as a last resort, unless lower back pain causes a loss of bowel or bladder control or neurological loss.
There are many ways to manage and relieve lower back pain, starting with home remedies such as rest, hot or cold compresses, exercise, and OTC pain relievers.
If conventional methods don’t provide the relief you seek, consider asking your doctor for recommendations. They may prescribe stronger pain medications or off-label treatments.
Alternative therapies, including acupuncture and chiropractic care, may also help. Speaking with your doctor is always a good first step.