5 Major Consequences of Your Back Pain

In time, as the pain becomes less avoidable and more noticeable, we then decide that it is safer to be less active.  Although it may feel better to avoid from hurting, one should also consider performing the action differently and with a more proactive approach to how the activity may affect your spine while performing it.

Modifying the activity to protect your spine from excessive movement is much better than avoiding it, especially if it’s something you enjoy doing or need to do.

For example, if you are spending far too much time sitting at work at your desk, you need to be following these work tips to protect yourself while on the job.

2. Your Emotions and Mood

Anyone who has chronic lumbar pain already has a very low tolerance to stress and is sensitive to anything that may worsen it.  Because it can take you a long time to get any relief or to improve your symptoms, it’s very hard to improve your mood as well as other emotions.

With the exception of medication, back problems rarely improve as quickly as you’d like it to.  Symptoms can further become worse in a very short space of time.  This is an important reason why anyone who suffers may become more prone to negative moods and depression much easier.

If these are some of the reasons you are becoming more hesitant, afraid, or anxious about engaging in any of your favorite activities, you’re not alone.  Believe me, there are better ways for you to get back into your activities that are safer, more reliable, spine-healthy and more social are vital to proper relief.

3. Your Family Life

Your mobility and sensitivity to pain can easily impact your ability to be actively involved with your family.  Just a few days of rest for a ‘temporary’ problem can eventually become frequent days of frustration, avoidance, disagreements and more, as days become longer and valued time with your family becomes progressively limited.

As the family accommodates for your back issues, so do their own needs and interests.  It’s not easy feeling that your back is also affecting everyone you care about.  This becomes especially clear when you don’t know whether or not your condition will improve.  Worse yet, if the family can adjust to it as well as you need them to if it doesn’t improve.

It is vital to have the understanding and support of your loved ones and your friends and not simply just more advice from them.  Let them know how serious your situation is, what you need and that it is important to have their support.

You don’t have to go at this alone.  Lean on others who care and take the time to prioritize your own health once and for all. This big step is necessary for you to get better physically AND emotionally.

When you have chronic pain, you need even more support from others to help you to find real long term relief. Doing it on your own can put you at risk of making choices that can hurt you further.

When you mood is low and it hurts, please seek help to keep yourself motivated when things get too tough.

4. Use of Medication

Regardless of the cause of your discomfort, medication has a prominent place in your treatment.  Once advised by your doctor, use it as advised and required.  If your doctor or specialist recommends other forms of treatment, follow them with as much value as you would your prescription.

If you don’t need to use medication long term and would like to avoid or minimize the use of medication, then find the proper treatment that can address long-term relief.

Pain medication only helps you to feel better and not for treating the source or the problem.  Unnecessary use of medication prevents you from proper treatment as it allows you only to ‘feel’ healed.

When you can no longer feel where the problem is coming from, you tend to believe that is safe to engage in activities that may not be safe for you. This puts you at greater risk.

If medication if your first choice, then you should consider other options that offer methods to reduce or avoid medication.  Long-term use of medication has its side effects.

5. Rest and Sleep

Rest and sleep are always compromised.  There no longer is a correct or suitable way to rest or sleep well.  The only certainty is the need for more of it.

Being under constant pain is very exhausting both physically and emotionally.  We don’t want more rest and sleep, we need more.  However, what we believe should be the solution for our back (which is more rest and sleep) is one of the contributors.

Adequate rest and sleep are essential for recovery.  However, there is a limit to how much you should have before it affects your recovery.  Too much rest leads to further immobility, poorer healing, and recovery as back pain is directly linked to mobility or the lack thereof.

It is important to obtain adequate rest and sleep, but it should not be regarded as a major part of your treatment.

You need to address the weakness that you may have with regards to your mobility, muscular conditioning, and flexibility.  These factors have a direct impact.

I created this site to help you return to the life you had before it started to hurt.  Please take the time to read all the categories and articles available here.  I believe you’ll find them a valuable resource.  

If you would like more information about how you can overcome your struggle with chronic pain, see The Program and eBook or get started here with these 10 important exercises for relief! They are fairly easy to follow and don’t take long to do.

Each quick exercise is designed to reveal your current limitations (that are responsible for what is hurting you) and to help you get relief safely and naturally.