The Holistic Approach to…
Back Pain BOBBY QURESHI is the Education Director at the College of Naturopathic Medicine (CNM) and a practising Osteopath.
If you have ever suffered from back pain, you will know only too well how unpleasant and debilitating it can be. Statistics suggest that around 1 in 3 adults currently experience back pain in the UK every year. So sadly, the odds are against us!
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uckily, it’s not all bad news. There is plenty we can do to manage back pain successfully without necessarily turning to medications that only suppress the symptoms and do not address the cause. Instead, the field of natural medicine can offer sufferers relief from back pain, whilst also establishing the underlying cause. From my own experience treating thousands of patients with back pain and getting great results, I have seen that, with a holistic approach, you can establish why a patient has those symptoms. If you can answer that question, you will generally have much better success!
So, why do so many people suffer from back pain? There are certainly common themes that I see in my clinic. Stress seems to be a big factor. Ongoing stresses cause muscles in the back to tighten up, which creates tension and potentially inflammation in the spinal joints. Try having regular Epsom Salt baths, which are rich in magnesium. This is the mineral your muscles need to relax and helps your nervous system to ‘calm down’. To make this most effective, you will need to put around 500g of the salts into a warm bath – try doing this twice a week. 36
Issue 01 Autumn 2020 2020
