Herbs ,Heat and Ice Treatment for Back Pain

Herbs for back pain
Current research suggests that depression and stressful events can make pain worse, meaning that chronic pain sufferers are likely to respond to depression or stress with more pain. Consequently, this research suggests that substances which can calm and soothe your nervous system will therefore also help to relieve your pain.

For this reason, herbs that can reduce your stress levels are likely to be highly effective aids in your fight against back pain. Included in this category would be skullcap, valerian, St John’s wort, poppy, willow bark, angelica, cayenne, wild yam, motherwort, rose and lavender.

In addition, the essential oils of peppermint,pine,rosemary,frankincense,ginger, cloves or juniper can be used as pain killers because every one of them has recognized analgesic qualities. Infuse one liquid ounce of a suitable carrier oil like olive or coconut oil with 10-12 drops of any of these essential oils, shake well and then rub the oil on the skin in the area of back pain. This will alleviate the pain and also reduce any swelling or inflammation.

If you have chronic back pain, try to drink a few cups of skullcap infusion every day, or alternatively take a dozen or so drops of skullcap tincture every day. Alternatively, a mixture of equal parts of the skullcap tincture, St John’s wort and oat straw is known to be particularly effective for calming the nerves, and that will have a knockon effect in helping to alleviate chronic back pain.

St John’s wort oil can be liberally rubbed into any area of your back in which you feel pain, and as it is a particularly effective treatment for muscular pain, this can be an extremely valuable antidote to chronic or acute muscular back pain.

Heat and ice treatment for back pain
Both heat and ice treatments can be used to deal with back pain from muscles, with the most suitable choice depending upon the reason for the pain.

If you have suffered some kind of back muscle injury, the first thing to ascertain is whether there is any swelling or inflammation. If there is no swelling, you are probably best advised to use heat to reduce the pain,because applying heat to a muscle increases its flexibility and elasticity.

Especially if activity is in the offing (even if it is only having to go to work), applying heat is probably more appropriate than applying an ice pack to your damaged muscles. In this way, you will encourage movement in your muscles, which is going to enable you to use them as and when it becomes necessary without suffering an undue degree of pain.

Because heat increases blood flow and skin temperature, you can apply an appropriate source of heat to your muscles for 15 to 20 minutes at a time. As moist heat is best, you could try using a hot towel or you could use a special athletic heat device or application on the injured area. There are also quite a few websites where you can buy natural heat applications like the National Allergy site.

Alternatively, there might be times when applying ice to your injury could be more appropriate. Although it is generally believed that applying an ‘ice pack’ of some description to any muscle injury is the best idea, heat works best for chronic pain.

If you are in the situation where your back pain is caused by an obvious injury where there may be swelling or inflammation, then application of an ice pack is likely to work better than applying a heat source. The application of ice acts as a vaso-constrictor, meaning that it will cause your blood vessels to narrow and that will limit internal bleeding and swelling.

Apply ice to the affected area (wrapped in a cloth or towel to prevent discomfort or ‘ice burn’) for 10 to 15 minutes at a time. After application, allow your skin temperature to return to normal before repeating the process as many times as necessary.

This is a process that you can repeat as many times as necessary for three or four days, but if after that, the problem still persists, you should seek appropriate medical advice.

If your back pain is caused by excess or unaccustomed physical activity or exercise, then the application of an ice pack may be the most

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