Home Remedies for a Backache - Information from a number of resources

One of the best home remedies for back pain is complete bed rest. Whenever a back muscle is strained from overwork or becomes spasmodic, it needs time to recover. A backache sufferer should be encouraged to lie comfortably on a firm mattress for several hours before resuming light duties. Sometimes, the affected muscles must realign themselves before the pain of a back ache can be relieved completely.  

Get off your feet. Your back will thank you for it. "For an acute problem," says orthopedic surgeon Edward Abraham, M.D., assistant clinical professor at the University of California, Irvine, California College of Medicine, "the first thing you should do is get some bed rest." In fact, it may be the only thing you'll want to do. Any physical act, even getting up to go to the bathroom, may bring you pain. So, for the first day or two, keep activity to a minimum.

How long you stay in bed depends on the severity of your pain, says Dr. Abraham. "If you're still in pain after two days, for example, an extra day in bed won't hurt. It's best, however, to get out of bed as quickly as possible. Let pain be your guide." "Most people think that a week of bed rest will take away the pain," adds David Lehrman, M.D., chief of orthopedic surgery at St. Francis Hospital and founder of the Lehrman Back Center in Miami, Florida. "But that's not so. For every week of bed rest, it takes two weeks to rehabilitate."

In fact, research at the University of Texas Health Science Center bears this out. Researchers there studied 203 patients who came into a walk-in clinic complaining of acute back pain. Some were told to rest for two full days and others were told to rest for seven days. There was no difference in the length of time it took the pain to diminish in either group, reported Richard A. Deyo, M.D., who was one of the researchers and is now director of health services research at Seattle Veterans Administration Medical Center. And those who got out of bed after two days got back to work a lot sooner. Another home remedy for a minor back ache is heat therapy. Back ache suffers can spend time in a heated bathtub, hot tub or jacuzzi to allow strained back muscles to loosen and relax.  An alternative to water therapy may be an electric heating pad placed on the affected area of the back. Some heating pads allow you to use moist heat with the pad. Sometimes an application of heat-generating sport or analgesic cream can be beneficial for a minor to moderate back ache.  

Put your pain on ice. The best way to cool down an acute flare-up is with ice, says Canadian pain researcher Ronald Melzack, Ph.D., a professor at McGill University. It will help reduce swelling and the strain on your back muscles. For best results, he says, try ice massage. "Put an ice pack on the site of the pain and massage the spot for 7 or 8 minutes." Do this for a day or two. Try some heat relief. After the first day or two of ice, physicians recommend that you switch to heat, says Milton Fried, M.D., founder of the Milton Fried Medical Clinic in Atlanta, Georgia. Take a soft towel and put it in a basin of very warm water. Wring it well and flatten it so that there are no creases in it. Lie chest down with pillows under your hips and ankles and fold the towel across the painful part of your back. Put some plastic wrap over that, then put a heating pad turned on medium on top of the plastic. If possible, place something on top that will create pressure, like a telephone book. "This creates moist heat and will help reduce muscle spasms," says Dr. Fried.  

Recently self-heating patches for back aches have become popular. Sufferers from a variety of muscular and joint pains can now apply a self-heating patch over the affected area. The heat is generated through controlled oxidation of a metallic pad covered with an adhesive bandage. As outside air enters the patch, the metal pad delivers a steady supply of heat to the injured area. For minor back ache pain, these new over-the-counter heat patches provide the same benefit as an electric heating pad or sports cream.  

Use heat and cold. For those of you who can't make up your mind which feels better, it's okay to use both methods, says Dr. Abraham. It may even have an added bonus. "An intermittent regimen of heat and ice will actually make you feel better," says Dr. Abraham. "Do 30 minutes of ice, then 30 minutes of heat, and keep repeating the cycle."

Many of the new, over the counter, hot-cold patches also can be very helpful. They contain the same type of ingredients as many sports creams, but are a slow release form of patch.

Gel packs are also now available that can either be frozen in the freezer or heated in the microwave to apply to back pain. Some people have even improvised and just used a bag of frozen peas.  They form well to your body since they are round and frozen. Just don't eat the peas after they have thawed out!

Turn your pain upside down. "Gravity inversion works wonders on back pain," says Dr. Fried. With this therapy you strap yourself to a special device that tilts back and allows you to hang upside down. "Gradually doing inversion traction with a proper, safe inversion apparatus for 5 or 10 minutes a day will really work to rid you from lower back pain," he says. You should, however, have your doctor's okay to use this kind of therapy, especially if you have disk problems. And those with a potential for glaucoma should not use it at all.  

The pain of a muscular back ache is often caused by an inflammation of the muscle tissue. This is why many sufferers do not find much relief from standard pain relievers, which do not always address inflammation. For back ache, use over-the-counter pain relievers which specifically use the term 'anti-inflammatory' or NSAID (non steriod anti inflamatory drug) on the label.

Some information for this article is from  the Rodale book, The Doctors Book of Home Remedies

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Edward Abraham, M.D., has a private practice in Santa Ana, California, and is assistant clinical professor of orthopedics at the University of California, Irvine, California College of Medicine. He originated the concept for outpatient back therapy in the United States and is the author of Freedom from Back Pain.

Richard A. Deyo, M.D., is director of health services research at Seattle Veterans Administration Medical Center and an associate professor of medicine and health services at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle. He also holds a master's degree in public health.

Milton Fried, M.D., is the founder and director of the Milton Fried Medical Clinic in Atlanta, Georgia. He also holds degrees in chiropractic and physical therapy.

 David Lehrman, M.D., is a chief of orthopedic surgery at St. Francis Hospital in Miami, Florida, and the founder and director of the Lehrman Back Center, a residential facility for pain sufferers in Miami.

Ronald Melzack, Ph.D., is a professor of psychology at McGill University in Montreal. He is vice president of the International Pain Foundation and a pain researcher.