How to Relieve Lower Back Pain: At-Home Remedies That Work

Monica Pineider
May 14, 2024
8 min read

Updated: Jun 4

How to Relieve Back Pain: 1. Change your Posture | 2. Mindful outfits | 3. Exercise | 4. Stretch | 5. Massage therapy | 6. CBD oil | 7. What to Avoid | 7. Key Takeaways

Struggling with back pain? You're in the right place. In this article, we'll explore effective home remedies and exercises to help you quickly relieve severe upper and lower back pain and get back to feeling your best.

While a doctor's visit is always recommended for persistent pain, these strategies can empower you to manage your pain and improve your well-being day by day.

How to Relieve Back Pain - Tip #1: Change your Posture as often as you can

It’s no secret that the main reason for back pain is bad posture. But posture only becomes “bad” if it’s held for too long for extended periods!

Move While You Stand

While waiting for a bus, standing on the tube, etc. Shift your body weight onto the right leg, then onto the left, and keep alternating as often as you feel comfortable. Stand on both feet and sway back and forth, shifting your body weight onto your toes and heels. Bend your knees ever so slightly. Push back through the back of the knee and engage the muscles of the thighs.

These are all minimal MICRO-MOVEMENTS, but they change how your muscles engage radically, preventing tension from building up and easing upper & lower back pain .

Move In Your Office Chair

When you sit for long periods, you can increase lower back pain by straining the muscles and ligaments that support the spine. So, whether you're working from home or at the office, change your position every 30 minutes. This is a quick, natural pain relief for upper back pain that bothered you all last year! Moving is a miracle medicine!

Set up a beeping clock to beep every half an hour, and change the way you sit with each reminder.

Uncross your legs, or cross the other way around (left of the top of the right, or vice versa).

Switch to a standing desk, or move to a different table with your laptop.

Move around in your chair or the office as much as you can.

Besides, Sit comfortably! Make sure work surfaces are at a comfortable height and sit. Use proper support for the lower back and a footrest if needed.

work-at-home-space-set-up-to-relieve-severe-lower-and-upper-back-pain

How to Relieve Back Pain - Tip #2: Don't let your wardrobe sacrifice back health!

Change The Way You Carry Your Bag

We often habitually carry a bag, e.g. on the same shoulder. Notice how you do it and alternate the shoulders each day.

Have an option of a rucksack and a handbag to carry on different days of the week, or opt for a convertible bag, which can become a backpack within a minute! This will greatly help to fast relieve upper back and neck pain.

Change Shoes Often

Different heights of the heel and different types of soles will engage the muscles of your legs and the back differently.

The type of shoes you wear will reposition your hip joint, directly affecting your upper and lower back. So don’t throw away your stilettos just yet! Wear them when you have to but carry a pair of pumps for when your back says no ;-)

Wear Loose and Stretchy Clothes to Sleep

This will allow your body to move freely while you rest. Especially if you tend to wake up with a ‘dead’ arm (scary!) or experience back pain after sleeping, you may check if your pyjamas or custom t-shirt you sleep in jams your shoulder joint when you lift your arm above your head.

How to Relieve Back Pain - Tip #3: Exercise

Cross Train

Cross-training strengthens various muscle groups, providing a holistic approach to managing the pain in the upper, mid, and lower parts of your back.

Mix up your exercise routine: Different kinds of exercise (spin, running, weights, swimming, yoga, pilates, pilates reformer, boot camp, YOU NAME IT!) train different groups of muscles.

By engaging in different types of physical activity, you’ll train your body to “think outside the box,” which is the best way to keep ALL of your joints moving and your muscles strong, supple, and happy.

Low Impact Exercises

Most sports injuries are caused by repetitive overuse of the spine, either through twisting, compression, or flexion (as when playing golf). High-impact sports such as running and football also cause pain radiating from the centre and lower part of the back.

Following a period of inactivity, opting for low-impact exercises like brisk walking, swimming, or using a stationary bike for 30 minutes each day is advisable, as these activities can enhance muscle strength and flexibility and help prevent lower back strains.

Core Exercises

Strong core muscles can significantly help to prevent, manage and relieve severe lower back pain.

Research shows that one of the leading causes of lower back pain is a weak core musculature. Strengthening your core will help you to build solid lumbar support in a gentle and safe way, improve your posture as well as reducing stress on the lower back.

HOW TO STRENGTHEN CORE MUSCLES WITHOUT HURTING THE BACK?

Try these no-equipment core muscle exercises, or if you have access to a Power Plate machine, try this super-effective 10-minute core exercise workout on a vibration plate.

How to Relieve Back Pain - Tip #4: Stretch

Wake Up Your Body Gently

If you experience hip pain when lying on your side at night or upper back pain after sleeping, start your day by gently exploring different movements.

Try performing gentle stretches that target your shoulder blades and upper spine to relieve that upper back pain fast at home when you wake. You can also incorporate cat-cow stretches, pelvic tilts, or side bends and avoid movements that aggravate the pain.

Moreover, don't limit your stretch routine to the sore areas.

Stretching your whole body can enhance overall flexibility and reduce back pain.

Learn your limitations and welcome them, working patiently with a positive attitude!

For added support, put a pillow between your knees while lying down to maintain proper spinal alignment and reduce pressure on the lower back.

Warm Up Like a Pro, Cool Down Like a Champion!

Your workout shouldn't start or end abruptly! Preparing your body with a dynamic warm-up primes your muscles for movement, improving flexibility and reducing injury risk. Think lunges, arm circles, and high knees.

Dynamic stretching is a safer way to warm up your body, reducing the risk of injury. After your workout, cool down with static stretches like hamstring pulls or quad holds.

A well-designed warm-up and cool-down routine is your double defence against severe lower back pain. It preps your muscles for activity and promotes recovery to relieve discomfort. It's a simple investment that pays off big time!

How to Relieve Back Pain - Tip #5: Massage therapy

Massage and physical therapy are powerful tools to ease back pain and muscle spasms.

Physical therapists can target specific areas and apply pressure and techniques like kneading, compression, and stretching can help to:

Reduce muscle tension and stiffness: Tight muscles can compress nerves and cause pain. Massage helps to loosen these knots and improve flexibility.

Improve blood circulation: Increased blood flow delivers essential nutrients to your back muscles and removes waste products contributing to pain.

Promote relaxation and endorphin production: Stress can exacerbate back pain. Massage therapy helps to relax the mind and body, promoting a sense of calm, while releasing endorphins, the body's natural painkillers.

Improve your posture and range of motion: These can both help to prevent future back pain.

Although a massage therapist's expertise is unmatched, self-massage offers a convenient at-home solution.

You can relieve stubborn upper back pain fast at home with a combination of deep tissue massage using a tennis ball and simple stretches focusing on your shoulder blades.

It's crucial to consult a healthcare professional for a proper diagnosis and treatment plan to relieve severe lower back pain. Self-massage in severe pain may sometimes worsen the condition.

Mix it with Cold & Heat Therapy.

For people with back pain, heat and cold therapy can offer practical ways to ease discomfort.

A hot water bottle or a heat pad can offer a simple yet effective way to ease discomfort.

When applied to the affected area, the heat from the bottle increases blood flow to the muscles and joints, which can help to relax them and reduce pain signals travelling along the spinal cord.

This increased blood flow also delivers vital nutrients and oxygen to the area, aiding healing. Heat therapy can also be anti-inflammatory, reducing swelling and inflammation around the affected area.

Conversely, ice packs can benefit acute injuries, such as muscle strains or sprains, by reducing inflammation and numbing pain.

How to Relieve Back Pain - Tip #6: Full Spectrum CBD Oil

Full-spectrum CBD is a type of CBD oil that contains a variety of cannabinoids, terpenes, and flavonoids. This combination of compounds is believed to work synergistically, enhancing CBD's potential benefits.

Full-spectrum CBD is effective in reducing pain, including chronic pain, neuropathic pain, and arthritis pain. The combination of cannabinoids and other compounds in full-spectrum CBD may provide a more comprehensive approach to pain management than isolated CBD.

If you're experiencing chronic pain, consider trying full-spectrum CBD oil. It may be a natural and effective way to manage your symptoms and improve your quality of life.

How to Relieve Back Pain - Tip #7: Chiropractic Care

One chiropractic approach that has gained attention for its effectiveness in managing hip osteoarthritis is visiting a Ring Dinger chiropractor. This unique spinal decompression technique focuses on realigning the spine and reducing pressure on compressed nerves, which can indirectly relieve strain on the hips.

Since spinal misalignment can contribute to joint stress and mobility issues, a full-spine adjustment like the Ring Dinger may help improve posture, enhance nerve function, and promote better movement.

Also READ: Understanding the Differences: Osteopath vs Chiropractor

How to Relieve Back Pain - Tip #8: Don't Make It Worse

Don't Overstress About It

Science tells us that fear and anxiety increase pain; on the contrary, learn these 13 stretches for lower back pain and start to experiment!

Don’t underestimate

If left untreated, lower back pain could lead to more serious conditions. Seek immediate medical advice if you experience any of these:

Pain with coughing or urinating, leg weakness, and fever

Numbness in the groin, buttocks, and inner thigh areas, which prevents you from even feeling a light touch

Loss of control of the bowels or bladder

Consistent lower back pain after a severe trauma such as a motor vehicle accident.
Nerve pain is caused by pressure on the sciatic nerve, which could result in pain radiating through the buttocks and down one leg, sometimes even reaching the foot. It is usually caused by muscular tension and could be resolved with massage and proper stretching. Even though sometimes sciatica can be a consequence of a disc injury and rupture or herniation (occasionally due to excessive exercise or heavy lifting), therefore it is always better to get a medical diagnosis to understand what’s the best way to treat it.

Don’t rely on chemicals or jump into surgery too quickly!

While medication and surgery can play a role in some back pain cases, adopting the strategies listed above can often be more effective and less invasive. Because These options address the root cause of the pain and promote long-term healing.

Moreover, Pain medication like muscle relaxants may offer temporary relief but can have side effects.

However, if your doctor advises it, you could try steroid injections for pain management.