Back pain is one of those tricky yet very irritating and frustrating ailments. There’s no way for a doctor to know how much pain you are in and if your pain in a sharp stabbing pain or an achy throbbing pain. No matter what kind of pain you have it is all, well, a pain in the back!
If you’ve been to doctor after doctor and had test after test run yet no one can seem to find a problem with your back. I guess we are supposed to just get used to the phrase “Well, it looks like everything is checking out ok” and you get to leave with a prescription for painkillers and a hand shake.
Then there’s those painkillers. You know, the kind that have so many side effects and limitations on what you actually can or can not do while on them. This one makes you drowsy, that one may cause liver failure, and the third can cause headaches. (You really are trading back pain for a headache?)
But what if there was another way to battle the incessant pain that keeps you from enjoying the things you used to? Recent studies have shown that that one thing we associate with pampered housewives has been known to help. No I don’t mean chocolate. I am referring to massages. In the study, posted by the Annals of Internal Medicine, 400 people with chronic back pain were observed. Two different types of massages were focused on and the results were quite amazing. Participants found that they had relief from their pain for up to six months.
The types of massage used on the group were relaxation and structured massage. The relaxation massage is to help alleviate tension in the body while the structured massage is more to pinpoint musculosketetal issues that lead to back pain. After both types of massage, participants noted they had a decrease in their pain and loss of mobility even after 10 weeks of treatment.
If you’re already living with back pain, trying massages couldn’t hurt anything and in all honesty, it would be a great excuse to get a little pampering in! Aside from alleviating pain, massage has also been said to help with boosting your immune system, reduce stress, lower blood pressure, and improve your mood. Many have even said it can relieve constipation (now maybe that explains some of the back pain). My unofficial official input; it couldn’t hurt to give it a try! So, if you’re living with chronic back pain give this a shot, it honestly couldn’t hurt!
