Getting Through the Day with Low Back Pain for Seniors

As we age, we can start to experience pain. A common pain experienced is back pain, and we will explain why back pain, including low back pain, can develop for seniors and what actions you can take to help reduce the pain.

However, first, let us introduce the structure of the spine. The spine is formed of 24 bones that reach from your skull to your tailbone. All of those bones (vertebrae) are joined together through tiny joints that are called facets. Between each bone, a jelly-like substance comforts each bone. Creating an altogether stable structure. When you are over the age of fifty, the three most likely reasons that a senior will develop back pain are:

Degenerative changes: when cells lose their moisture, the discs of our spine can lose strength and be made into less effective absorbers of shock.

Spinal Stenosis: the canal that the spinal cord passes through can weaken, ligaments get thicker, or arthritis of the lower spine can take place. Spinal Stenosis is all about disc degeneration.

Spondylolisthesis: This is when a spinal vertebra falls forward onto the vertebra beneath it.

Here are six ideas to help you through your day with back pain:

1.    Try to stay physical:

movement can help to keep your bones from getting stiff. Exercise also improves the way that we feel mentally. Exercise can, therefore, assist your low back pain by creating the essential movement we need to free our bones, and in creating a platform for our mental well-being. Especially if you have gone through and epidural stimulation it’s essential to pay close attention to your physical activity levels.

2.    Physical therapy:

Physical therapists are all too used to designing exercise programs to strengthen back, abdominal muscles, and create a secure spine. For this reason, you can try to research and find an experienced physical therapist to help you. Don’t try anything DIY you might do more harm than good. Find an expert talk to them about your concerns and issues, ask your questions and see what would work the best in your case.

3.    Medicines:

medicines from the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory family (NSAIDs), such as: ibuprofen, and aspirin will help to calm pain caused by inflammation. Giving yourself a dose in the ‘pulsed dosing’ technique is a good thing to consider doing; pulsed dosing involves taking the NSAIDs medicines between two and three times a day for a minimum of five days and a maximum of ten. Taking this when you are experiencing pain, or soon after is a reasonable and effective practice.

4.    Cold:

if you experienced a sudden attack of back pain, one thing that you can do is to use an ice pack (or anything that is frozen like peas from a packet in the freezer), and apply for twenty minutes. After you have kept the pack in place for approximately twenty minutes, take it off for another twenty minutes before repeating the cycle again. Don’t leave it for too long, you might get cold burns or worse freeze your spine.

5.    Heat:

If the pain has not gone away after a couple of days, you may want to think about applying heat through a heating pad, soak in a hot bath, or use any alternative heat therapies. Doing so relaxes your muscles, encourages blood flow and reduces low back pain. You should take extra care with heat as there is a risk that you could get burned. Lastly, after using heat, make sure to stretch your muscles to avoid muscle spasms and muscle cramps.

6.    Rest:

aging weakens our cells, which means recovering from injuries can take a much longer time. If you do lose the use of your back, stretching and moving is far greater than remaining static in bed. If you are resting in bed for a period of forty-eight hours or more, then the duration and intensity of the back pain increase, while the speed of recovery decreases.

Here, we have been able to explain the three most common causes of low back pain in seniors, and also offer six actions you can factor into your daily routines to help you get through the day even if you have undergone an epidural stimulation…