When you pull a lower-back muscle, your muscles need special care to heal. Without understanding the body’s recovery process, many people innocently cause themselves more low-back pain. And in the meantime they slow their bodies own healing process.

This one practice seems harmless, and it provides temporary relief from back pain and soreness. So, how can it be causing long-term damage?

The one common self-care practice is utilizing a heat application.

Here’s a typical senario:

It’s the first heavy snowfall of the winter season, and your lower back muscles were not ready to shovel the entire driveway and front walkway.

When you wake up the next morning, your whole lower lumbar area is extremely sore. Getting around all day proves very difficult and your moving really slow. It dawns on you later in the day that you might be in for some low back pain treatment if things don’t improve. So, you settle into the couch in the evening, with a heat pad on your lower back.

Heat is like a new trend in self-medication. We have heated car seats, and even our couches have cushions that heat up. We keep heat packs at the office, too. Heat provides a quick fix, but it may aggravate the condition.

Why is heat application so bad for relieving aches and pains?

Pain and soreness may be your back’s way of screaming out for help. Low back muscle pain is often a sign of inflammation, and overactivity. And quite possibly due to inactivity.

When we apply heat, our mind blocks out pain signals temporarily. But if the pain is due to inflammation, the pain will return when the heat is removed. And it can return with a painful vengeance.

Is your weary body and sore muscles calling out for more heat?

Instead, apply Ice.

There are four basic steps of First Aid:  Rest - Ice - Compression - and Elevation.  Notice heat is not included.

If you consider that your lower back muscles need to rest and cool down, then try the temporary relief and healing of ice instead of heat for some homeade back pain therapy.

If your low back pain persists after a few days, it might be more serious than a simple lower back muscle pull.

You might consider a second opinion from a professional to get some relief for back pain and that professional is only a phone call away for a highly qualified Mid-Michigan chiropractor at 517.663.8825.

Colestock Family Chiropractic has been servicing the community of Eaton Rapids and surrounding vicinities since 2003 for all kinds of back pain treatment.