Ways to release your back pain when your massage therapist is not around

Back and neck pain is one of the most common complaints during lockdown. Working from home without proper office settings, bad posture, no enough breaks and stress are some of the main reasons for back and neck pain. Also, some people have injured themselves following video exercises online. Don’t take me wrong, they are great, but it is important that you position your body properly and keep an eye on your posture all the time in order to avoid injuries. As a massage therapist, I see in my clinic a lot of clients that have injured themselves doing exercises incorrectly.

If you are having back or neck pain or you injured yourself and your therapist is not around, there are  some techniques you can do at home to relieve your back and neck pain. If this doesn’t help you can visit our clinic for an assessment with the physios. Sports therapists or osteopaths they will be happy to help you.

I would like to share with you what I use at home to release my back pain and why I recommend to my clients to buy an office chair to help with lower back pain.

Pain Relief with Foam Roller

Foam roller is a safe product if you used it correctly.  It is great to release tight glutes, legs, calf , and even the back. If you are not familiar with the use of the roller I recommend you read my blog on how to use the roller for the different parts of the body.  

I don’t recommend using the roller on your back if the pain is unbearable, as the pain could be due to disc damage, sciatica or trapped nerve and the roller could make it worse.

Other benefits of the use of the roller are:

• Muscle tightness
• Soreness
• Increase joint range of motion
• help general relaxing (make you feel less tense)

Foam rolling technique also helps:

• manage fibromyalgia symptoms
• reduce fatigue, stiffness and depression

Hot water bottle

Muscles love heat and a hot water bottle helps your muscle to relax and stop pulling from the joints. When using the hot water bottle for heat therapy, it should be at a warm temperature to avoid skin burns. Just place the hot water bottle at warm temperature, it will allow the heat to penetrate down into your affected muscles without damaging your skin

If you have minor back tension you may only need 15 to 20 minutes of heat therapy, but if your pain is severe, you may need more than 30 minutes sessions.

You also can alternate hot and cold techniques. First, place the hot water bottle on the affected area, then place a cold compress.  

Tennis balls for pain relief

•  Tennis ball is my favourite, it is inexpensive and you can take it with you wherever you go. They help you to smooth out knots and relieve tension as work the deep muscle fibers. Remember this is only a temporary  muscle release as you need to have an assessment with your massage therapist, Osteo or physio to determinate the root of the pain. 

 How to use it?

•   Find a sensitive or tight spot
•   Find a wall or you can do it on the floor depending the area you want to release
•   Place the tennis ball on the tight spot and lean on the wall/ floor
•   Use your own body weight to apply pressure, increase pressure gradually
•   Hold the ball whiles keep pressing for 1 minute
•   You should feel mild discomfort during the exercise, keep pressing, you should feel the discomfort going down. If the discomfort increases stop immediately.     
•   Breath deeply and slowly to oxygenate your muscles and help them to loosen
•   Repeat 3 times

Tiger balm

They’re common anesthetics and work by constricting muscles to help decrease muscular and joint pain.

For temporary relief of minor aches and pains associated with:

• Joint and muscle strains
• Backaches
• Arthritis
• Stiff muscles

Apply the balm in the affected area; you can repeat the application up to 3 times per day. 

If pregnant or breastfeeding, ask a health professional before use. Keep out of reach of children. If swallowed, get medical help or contact a Poison Control Centre immediately.

 Test on small area before use as this product may cause allergic reaction in some individuals.

Heat patches for pain relief

Any type of heat therapy can help relieve back pain. Heat patches are ideal because they’re convenient and portable.

Exercise

When you are in pain the best thing you can do is to move. Exercise is the best for pain release and your overall health. The next link will show you some exercises you can do at home to ease from back pain. https://www.pereaclinic.com/5-back-pain-exercises-to-do-at-home/

We hope this information may help you.

We hope this information is useful for you. If you need advice or have any questions about our treatments, please contact us. You can find me in Mill Hill Broadway and Islington. We are always happy to help. If you like this blog, please share!