This article is a transcribed edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in February of 2024. For the original video go to https://youtu.be/J8qFlRYF7Mw
Brad: Oh wow, back pain! You know, I've had back pain like this a number of times in the last 20 years, and myself, as well as many people with back pain, the big question is, can I get rid of the pain without doing any awkward exercises or taking medications?
Mike: And the answer is yes you can. So we're gonna show you some of the best options you can do at home.
Brad: As therapists, we know specific exercises can be very beneficial and effective on reducing and abolishing back pain. However, the first thing we always need to do is get the pain to settle down, so you can do the exercises properly.
Mike: Plus, some older adults do have difficulty doing back pain exercises due to things like arthritis or weakness. So these options, you don't have to worry about those things.
Brad: That's right. From our decades of combined experience in the clinic, we are going to give you five options of the best treatment you can do at home to calm down your back pain and get on with life. All right, so the first option is one of my favorite ones because it's very simple, and it doesn't cost you anything, you simply lie on your bed, or you can do this on the floor. I've done it both ways myself and with patients. Take a few pillows, you need two or three, and get them underneath both legs. And what that does is it brings up the hip, flexes the hip, and that puts the back in a more neutral position, less stress on the back, and it actually, very comfortable. Mike, how do you feel like that?
Mike: I feel good.
Brad: If this works, and you want to get a device that actually works better, we have found, and in the clinic this has been, I'd say we use this leg ledge, 90% of the time people are very happy with it. I've had a number of patients buy one just because it works so well, and it's firm, it has the angle, and you want to make sure, can you lift your legs up a little bit, that it's right up into your buttock and hamstrings, that really makes a big difference. Then that's a real nice option. We're going to show you a combination with this using the pillows or the wedge in just a couple more minutes.
Brad: Now hold onto your pillows because the next thing we wanna address is seated posture. Poor seated posture can aggravate and cause back pain and really make it linger on for a long period of time until you correct it. Mike, couple simple ways to do it.
Mike: So poor posture can be caused by just not paying attention and gravity working so you get flexed over. Another common problem for some people is the seat pan depth is actually too far back. So they're not comfortable getting all the way back with their legs depending upon their height. So simple solution for both of these would be to use a throw pillow, put it in your low back region. This will shorten the depth of the seat pan, and also it reminds you to have something there to push against to keep up good posture. Some people, this is enough, and this will work. Not everyone, some people may need just a full pillow. Put it up the vertical way here and place it behind them. Now this is typically common in standard chairs like this or maybe a recliner or sofa because they can get soft and squishy over time. Just feel what can fill that void the best and keep your back in a good neutral position.
Brad: Right, you'll know the pillow's right one because it feels like good support. The pain is gone or almost gone as a result of putting the pillow in right away. So go ahead, use those pillows in your recliner, in the chair, et cetera. All right, let's go on to number three.
Mike: Three. Another good option is to use a hot or cold pack. You can do this in a chair or laying down. This one can be both. We have some other options we will talk about as well. Now when it comes to hot or cold packs, it's important to not always put it specifically this type directly on your skin. If you have a shirt or sweatshirt on, that could possibly be enough layers. If you feel like it's too warm or too cold, simply place a towel over it, and if it's my low back, could just put it in my low back between the pillow and my body and that should suffice. You can leave it on for 10 to 20 minutes.
Brad: Now the next question, I'm sure a lot of people are wondering, so what's better, hot or cold? Well, that's a question of the century, and from clinical experience myself, I've used initially cold packs. So it works really well for me, but I run into people where they just don't tolerate them. It makes them tighten up. Then we get the hot pack out, and they have release of the muscle, tightness feels better, increases circulation. So try each one. See how you feel better with each one and how it responds after you take the hot pack or cold pack away, should continue to feel good for a period of time. 30 minutes to an hour.
Mike: So with laying down, it's important to make sure you have layers on because you will be applying more pressure from your body weight onto the hot or cold pack. So again, just simply place a towel over it and put it under your back. I'm not going to do that for video sake purposes, just find the spot that is sensitive, and you can lay on it while keeping your feet elevated. You get a double bonus here. Now there are a couple other heating options we'd like to talk about, if people are in the market, they'll get something.
Brad: Right, so if you want to use a hot pack that's electric, you may already have one, and you can certainly use that, use it the same way. The big precaution is is that you set a timer on it or hopefully has a timer on it because you do not want to fall asleep lying down like this and have that hot pack on your back for a couple hours, 20 minutes, 30 minutes maximum. Now there is a hot pack that's a little higher end and it's the Thermotex Platinum Far Infrared Heating Pad. The big advantage to this is the heat will penetrate into your skin or your tissues over two inches, 2.36 inches actually. So it gets in more blood flow, gets into the muscles, into the joints where a standard hot pack just goes skin deep. The disadvantage to Thermotex, they do cost more, but they are built well, and they do what they say. Now, if you want a hot pack that covers your whole back because you're the type of person that really responds well to heat and you want to have this, particularly if it's a winter day when you have this back pain, here, I call this the cape, but it's not really called the Cape, it's the Bob and Brad heating pad. And I really do like this because it covers it. You can sit back in your recliner, read a book, watch TV, and it does not get real hot, and you can control the time as well as the intensity of the heat. So there you go, let's go onto the next options.
Mike: Another option to help with back pain is to actually massage the muscles that are painful in the area in your low back here. Now the problem is doing it yourself, after a while, your fingers get tired because back muscles are rather firm and stiff. So you really have to dig in there, and it's not really that relaxing to do it yourself.
Brad: Yeah, I mean if you've got someone in the house, or you can go to a masseuse, great, but it's not an option for a lot of people. One thing I do at home when I want to work my back muscles in here is you could use a cane. I use the Booyah Stik. You just need a stick that's about four foot long and relatively sturdy, and I'll put it behind, and I'll just work up and down with this. And it works out fairly well. It's not the best, but it does offer some relief and relaxation.
Brad: Now some people do have massage guns already. They're very popular. They've been out for a number of years, and they're quite effective. Now we've got a couple here that that we sell. This one actually just came out. This head actually cools down or heats up. So if you like cold, you adjust it for cold. If you want heat, adjust it for heat, and I'm amazed at how well it actually works. The only problem with doing massage on your back with a massage gun is the same thing as doing it with your hands. You need a lot of range of motion with your hands or your shoulder and elbow, and it works. And if you lie down on your bed, it's a little easier. Mike has a smaller one, and he's got a standard airhead. Can you talk about that, Mike?
Mike: So this is a airhead. So it's soft and cushioned, so it feels fine on your back. When you get in the back, you're going to kind of probably run over your spine at times or even your pelvis bones. That's not going to feel too good with a hard, firm plastic massage head. So typically a soft foam ball or the airhead like this is a good option.
Brad: There you go. Now what we feel is the best option for low back in particularly is there's a massage pad that fits behind your chair. So here is our low back massager. It actually works good on hamstrings and calves as well and even your upper back. But what it does, it massages, and the heads, you can see them rotating here, and they actually heat up as an option. You don't have to have it heat up. Now I'm going to show you how to use it. Now, it can be pretty aggressive, and if your back is sore, you may wanna put, they actually have a Velcro pad on here that lessens the intensity of the massage. So let's go to a chair and show us how it's done in the chair. We always joke about this as looking like a tooth because it kind of does. You can put it either end up, whatever feels better on your back. These really get it to the right muscles.
Brad: This is one thing that we've all tested here at the Bob and Brad crew, and it works really well. I am just totally impressed with how well this works. Simply sit with it behind your back, and you can run it for 15 to 20 minutes. It does have an automatic shutoff, I believe it's in 20 minutes. You can do this in a recliner, which I like to do. You can recline back, and it really is a comfortable way to get a massage by yourself, firm chair, or actually lying down. You could try that. I don't like that so much, this is the way I do it. So do that and get those muscles to relax. All right, that's enough of this. Mike, what do you got to say?
Mike: The last thing is to avoid bending over and picking something up with bad posture while you have back pain because this is probably going to flare things right back up. Notice how rounded my spine is. So Brad's going to talk about some better options when it comes to lifting mechanics.
Brad: That's right, so the first thing you want to do is if you need to pick up, say your back massager fell onto the floor, you're going to bring your legs about two shoulder widths wide. So you got a wide base, and you're strong that way. We're going to actually bend, keep our back straight. I want you to pretend there's like a two by four taped to your back, and it's keeping you straight and steady. Bend with the knees and pick that up. There we go. You have to look down with your eyes, not your head. So always good body mechanics, good posture, and that will help reduce those flare ups.
Brad: Now the other thing is called the golfers' lift. If you're going to pick up something lighter, this is known as the golfers' lift. And you've probably seen this, if you watch any golf, the back leg, use a hand to steady somewhere if you need, and then kick that leg up. That keeps your back in neutral position.
Brad: It really lessens how much stress you put on the back when you pick up something light. Or you can certainly pick it up doing the squat as well. So now once your back starts to feel better, you need to calm down from one of these methods, you're lifting properly. You really need to get back to moving. So one of the recommended ways, one of the top back specialists in the world, Dr. Stewart McGill recommends along with other therapists like us, start a walking program. Now, when you do a walking program, you're not going to go out and walk one mile the first day. You may just start walking on the flat, not on a trail, maybe only a hundred yards, and then come back, and then we're going to progress as your back tolerates. As a matter of fact, we've got a video, Mike want to help him out with that video?
Mike: Yes, if you want more videos on how to stop back pain and walking correctly, you can check out the video "Fastest Ways To Walk Correctly To Stop Back Pain!"
Brad: This video will show you in detail how to start walking when you're recovering from a back injury. It's wonderful, well, we did do it, so of course it's good.
Mike: It's perfect.
Brad: Very good, good luck with your back pain and get it calmed down.
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