A warm bath can be effective relief for a painful back spasm. Donald S. Corenman, M.D., DC, helps his patients with spinal ailments ranging from degenerative disc disease to nerve compression and everything in between.
Heated and cold compresses: A heat compress or a hot shower will help to loosen up muscles, while cool compresses alleviate inflammation. Both can be used as needed in the affected areas.
The main thing people recommend adding to a bathtub for back pain relief is Epsom salt. That's the primary ingredient in a lot of commercial bath salt. Epsom salt is actually magnesium sulfate. Healthline explains that when it's dissolved into a hot bath, the magnesium sulfate is absorbed by the skin and sore muscles.
A bath: A hot bath can help to ease your back pain and any other muscle soreness you may be experiencing.
Hot baths relax the contracted muscles and stimulate blood flow to the area. That can end muscle spasms and ease muscle pain, whether that pain is the cause of the back pain or a by-product of another back injury.
“Hot baths expand the blood vessels in those areas and allow the healing properties within the blood to be delivered. They relax the muscles, which takes the tension off of them and the nerves that have been injured.”
Epsom salt reportedly reduces inflammation, thus relieving this painful side effect. Relaxes Muscles: Tense muscles can be caused by a variety of conditions and may even be due to stress. When muscles are tense, this tends to exacerbate back pain. Epsom salt baths can ease and relax muscle tension.
Baths can be surprisingly helpful when it comes to low back pain. A warm bath can be effective relief for a painful back spasm. Donald S. Corenman, M.D., DC, helps his patients with spinal ailments ranging from degenerative disc disease to nerve compression and everything in between.
Take a hot bath before bed
Heat can help the muscles and back relax and ease any muscle spasm you may be experiencing. Adding a scoop of Epsom salts to the bath can also aid in reducing inflammation and promoting relaxation that many find offers relief from sciatic pain.
Heat stimulates the sensory receptors in your skin, decreasing transmission of pain signals to the brain, relieving the discomfort of back pain. Heat application facilitates stretching of the soft tissues around the spine, including muscles, connective tissue, and adhesions.
Heat therapy.
Heat therapy, especially moist heat (such as the heat from a warm bath, Jacuzzi, or hot tub), can promote blood flow to the spine, relax tense or spasming muscles, and promote relaxation. A hot water bottle or heat pack on the back or neck can also help with pain.
Heat therapy may be best after those first 48 hours, as heat helps to relieve painful muscle spasms. Methods for applying heat include taking a warm bath, using a wrap that applies continuous low-level heat to the area, or by using a heating pad.
Increasing body temperature therefore likely serves as an independent stressor able to induce the acute inflammatory responses needed to reduce chronic low-grade inflammation in the long term.
Diet and exercise. Diet and exercise can be considered for patients that have spinal stenosis who are also overweight. Because additional fat in the body presses down on the spine and makes it support more weight, it aggravates spinal stenosis and may even lead to the condition developing.
A tightened space can cause the spinal cord or nerves to become irritated, compressed or pinched, which can lead to back pain and sciatica. Spinal stenosis usually develops slowly over time. It is most commonly caused by osteoarthritis or “wear-and-tear” changes that naturally occur in your spine as you age.
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Sciatica sufferers can try several positions to minimize the pressure on the affected sciatic nerve. You can sit comfortably by keeping your feet flat on the floor, sitting with your back all the way to the rest of the chair, maintaining an open hip angle, and using a lumbar support or seat cushion.
To use, rub the ointment, gel or cream near where it hurts. It's also important to apply the product to the rear pelvis – the area that's closest to the sciatic nerve root. Sciatica starts at the nerve root, so if you're able to stop the pain there, you may be able to stop it from spreading.
If you have a dull ache in your back that is causing you missed sleep, 20 minutes in a hot tub before you go to sleep does wonders.
Generally speaking, ice is better than heat for back pain that may be caused by an acute injury. The Cleveland Clinic says that, in the battle of back pain, “Ice wins to shut down swelling, inflammation and pain early on where heat may actually make an injury worse.”
If you have truly pulled or strained your lower back muscles, applying heat will cause inflammation. Heating inflamed tissues will make your pain worse and certainly won't help things get better any time soon. Another scenario when heat therapy is not a good idea is if you are already sweating.
Sufficient intake of magnesium may help muscle spasms and significantly reduce back pain. Taking vitamins and minerals can help with your lower back pain, but they also provide many benefits for your overall health. With proper diet and regular exercise, you may be able to prevent the recurrence of lower back pain.
However, a possible complication of sciatica is chronic (long-term) pain. If there's serious damage to an affected nerve, chronic muscle weakness, such as a “drop foot,” might happen. That's when nerve damage causes numbness in your foot, which makes normal walking difficult or even impossible.
If you decide not to rinse off afterwards, your body may benefit for longer from the purported healing properties of the salt. However, Epsom salts can sometimes have a drying effect, so you may want to have a quick rinse off afterwards, especially if you have dry skin anyway.