Backache – Causes, Symptoms and Dietary Treatment

Backache is among the most common among all chronic health ailments.



Everybody experiences backache or back pain some time in life. It assumes significance to discuss this phenomenon in this age given the change in lifestyle and the increase in deskbound jobs that expect your back be straight and sturdy! A deeper insight will help us understand what keeps your back straight while you read this piece of information:

Back-

1. Is an essential and vital bone of the body also known as the life bone.

2. Is a composition of muscles, bones and elastic tissue.

3. The spine at the centre of the back is made of 24 block bones, piled one above the other. The spine holds the body upright and ensures mobility of the body.

4. Inter-vertebral discs cushion in between the bony blocks to keep the bones from rubbing each other.

5. Inter-vertebral discs facilitate movement and act as shock absorbers for the back.

The back that keeps us steady and helps mobility can cause immense difficulty in continuing with routine tasks if not taken care of. Back pain, discomfort and inability to carry routine tasks are common hindrances brought about by a backache. Hence, this common ailment if not given its due share of attention and concern can create havoc in the most intense manner to our body.

Symptoms of Backache:

1. Pain experienced in the region of the middle or lower back.

2. Acute pain in the back and difficulty in bladder and bowel movements are cause for concern

3. Pain in the waist and hip region

4. Inability to move and extreme discomfort

5. Pain and numbness experienced from the back to the legs.

Causes of Backache:

Backache can be attributed to various reasons lifestyle changes to physical and emotional health concerns.



Here we list the most commonly known causes that can give you a backache:

1. Inactive living habits and hazardous work patterns

2. Emotional stress, which brings about spasm of the muscles, may also cause backache

3. Most backache patients suffer from cervical or lumbar spondylosis, which is a degenerative disorder in which the vertebral bone or the intervertebral disc becomes soft and loses shape. As a result of this, the spine loses its flexibility.

4. Muscular tension, joint strain, poor posture, incorrect nutrition and lack of exercise are common causes of backache.

5. Backache may also result from acute or chronic illnesses like kidney or prostate problems, female disorders.

6. Lack of exercise may cause back problems.

7. Obesity could lead to strain on the back and result in back pain.

8. Improper posture while lifting heavy objects and continuous sitting posture can also aggravate a back problem.

9. Many women may have experienced backaches and a probable reason could be high heels like stilettos that are put strain on the back resulting in back aches.

Dietary Treatment :

Diet is an effective tool to help restrain a recurring back pain. Moreover a healthy diet is a pathway to a healthy you. Certain foods double up as effective remedies for a backache problem. But a diet alone cannot be a sufficient remedy. A diet has to be combined with a good exercise routine to reap benefits.



While knowledge of the foods that give essential vitamins and proteins and incorporating them in your diet plan is the first step, the second would be to give the body the physical strength and flexibility it requires to keep you active.

Diet for Backache:

The intake of certain foods is important to strengthen the system from within. In the context of back pains and backaches the diet plan needs to focus on fortifying the back. The key to having a strong back lies in strengthening the bones. So what can make the bones oh-so strong??

1. Proteins and Vitamin C are necessary for the development of a healthy bone matrix and Vitamin C is known to relieve low-back pain and averting spinal disc operations.

2. Vitamin D, calcium phosphorus and the essential trace minerals are also essential for healthy bones.
Now, the question lies in figuring out all kind of food that can tempt the taste buds but also does comprise of Protein, Vitamin C and Vitamin D. Isnt it?? Don’t worry we have a diet planned for you….

3. A high intake of raw vegetables and fresh fruits is considered to be good for persons with back pain. Raw vegetables for salad may include carrot, cabbage, cucumber, radish, onion and lettuce.

4. At least two steamed or lightly cooked vegetables such as cauliflower, cabbage, carrot, spinach and liberal quantities of fresh fruits.

5. Milk a good source of Vitamin D is a must in your diet.

An ideal diet plan should read like this: Have four meals daily. Include fresh fruits and milk for breakfast, steamed vegetables and whole-wheat bread for lunch, a fresh fruit or juice in the evening and a bowl of raw salad and sprouts for dinner.

Foods to avoid for bachache:

1. Avoid fatty, spicy and fried foods.

2. Avoid all kinds of sweetmeats, sugar, curd and condiments.

3. Avoid consumption of tea and coffee.

4. Give up smoking and intake of tobacco.

5. Avoid foods that have been processed for storage to avoid spoiling as they have few nutrients and must be eliminated from the diet.

Exercise for Bachache:

Diet alone cannot pave way to health it has to be coupled with exercise. Exercise is required to keep the body physically fit and active. Moreover exercise improves the supply of nutrients to spinal discs, thereby delaying the process of deterioration that comes with age and affects everybody. This is a known fact. In the context of backaches and back pains we list a couple of simple things that will help you ease your way out of a painful back:

1. Simple and safe exercises: Includes walking, swimming and bicycling.

2. Weight control: Is a goal towards which you must tread to relieve backache as excess weight puts immense strain on the soft back tissues.

3. Sleeping Posture: Persons with back problems should sleep on a firm mattress on their sides with knees bent at right angles to the torso.

4. Avoid lifting weight: Be careful of the posture while bending to lift heavy objects. Take care never to bend from the waist down to lift any object, but instead should squat close to the object, bending the knees but keeping the back straight and then stand up slowly. This helps avoid strain on the back.

5. Exercise for people with deskbound jobs: Neck tension could arise from long hours at the desk or behind the wheel of the car. This can be relieved by certain neck exercises. Rotate the head clockwise and anti-clockwise allowing the head to drop forward and backward as far as possible and turning the head to the right and left as far as possible several times. These exercises help to loosen up contracted neck muscles, which may restrict blood supply to the head.

6. Yogic asanas known to benefit in the treatment of backache are bhujangasana, shalabhasana, halasana, uttanpadasana and shavasana.

Remedies for Backache:

While diet and exercise is a continuing process towards a greater good and elimination of backache completely yet we seek remedies that give instant relief. These remedies are simple and easy to follow. So take your pick from the following instant remedies for that instant relief:

1.



Alternate sponging and application of heat to the back can give immediate relief incase of back pain.

2. Lemon has another useful remedy for backache. The juice of a lemon should be mixed with common salt and consumed by the person with backache. It will give relief.

3. Garlic is known to be a good remedy for backaches. Two or three flakes of garlic taken daily in the morning can give good results.

4. Oil prepared from garlic and rubbed on the back will give great relief. How is this oil prepared?? By frying 10 cloves of garlic in 60 grams of oil in a frying pan. Fry slowly till they are brown. After cooling apply vigorously on the back and allowed to remain there for three hours. Have a warm water bath thereafter and continue this treatment for at least 15 days.

5. The use of chebulic myroblan is also beneficial in the treatment of backache. A piece of this herb should be taken after meals. This can give instant relief.