The Holistic Approach to Back Pain

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!

Luckily, 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.

Here are some of my best tips for keeping active:

Ensure that your body is moving every day. This could include short walks and opting for the stairs instead of lifts. With most causes of back pain, movement is essential to encourage a good healing response.

Exercise 3-4 times a week. This could include attending your local gym, swimming, running or trying yoga or Pilates to keep your back moving, stretched and strong!

Try stretching your back every day or other day. Here are some of my favourite back stretches:

Knee hugs: Lie on your back with your knees bent up. Use your arms to pull your knees towards your chest until you feel a stretch in your lower back. Hold this for 15 seconds and repeat 3-4 times.

Back rotation: Lie on your back, keeping one knee bent. Whilst keeping your shoulders planted on the ground, roll the flexed knee across to the opposite side so that your back begins to lift off the ground to create a stretch along the lower back.

Breathing exercises can be effective at reducing muscle tension and improving blood circulation around the body. The sufferer can place one hand on the abdomen (stomach) and the other on the chest and slowly breathe in whilst trying to encourage all of the movement to come from the stomach (and not from the chest until the end of the breathing in), before slowly breathing out through pursed lips (as if blowing out a candle). Doing this for 5 minutes a day whenever it is convenient will reap great benefits.

Herbs and diet are also key in stress management. Herbs such as Rhodiola and Ashwagandha have the effects of minimising the body’s response to stresses. These are available either online or from good health food shops.

A spike in blood sugar levels (low or high) can also activate the stress response in the body. To avoid this the sufferer should ensure they are not skipping meals. They should also reduce intake of conventional processed ‘beige foods’: cakes, biscuits and chocolate, as well as white bread, rice and pasta.

Another common cause of back pain is a lack of exercise. More and more of my patients tell me that they are spending most of their days sedentary, especially when desk bound.

The two most common errors I see with people who sit at a desk is that they do not move often enough and have a poor ergonomic setup. To address these, I firstly suggest moving from your seated position every hour. All you need to do is walk to refill your water, stand up and stretch or walk a lap of your office!

Also ensure that the desk position is comfortable for your body. Sit in a chair that gives you lower back support and keeps both your hips and knees at 90-degree angles. Keep your computer screen directly in front of you at eye level and ensure that your mouse is accessible comfortably without needing to raise or lower your shoulder. The role of nutrition in back pain is very important. Some foods can create an inflammatory environment which can ultimately exacerbate pain anywhere in the body. Sufferers should avoid these pro-inflammatory foods such as refined sugars, gluten, dairy, eggs and non-organic and corn-fed meat and replace these foods with fruit, vegetables and legumes (8-10 different portions a day), wild caught fish, nuts, seeds and a variety of herbs and spices.

A good dietary magnesium intake is also essential for its anti-spasmodic effects on muscles. Introducing more green leafy vegetables, pumpkin seeds, black beans and avocado into the diet will go a long way towards achieving that. In addition to this, magnesium citrate powders can be used to maximise magnesium intake in a bioavailable form that is easy to purchase online.

Another contributor to back pain is dehydration. Muscles and joints are filled with water and rely on the constant presence of water to nourish these tissues with nutrients and to remove wastes. Sufferers should ensure that they are drinking 2 litres of water a day (depending on age, gender, season and exercise levels – medical conditions aside). Adding pink Himalayan salt to warm water first thing in the morning introduces a range of key minerals into the body.

Many individuals quickly turn to painkillers to help manage back pain. I often recommend natural alternatives that are generally very safe to use. Supplementing the spice Turmeric, the herb Boswellia, or the plant pigment Quercetin, all of which have antiinflammatory properties, are just some examples. Mixing Turmeric with black pepper facilitates its absorption. Fish oils can also be supplemented for their omega-3 anti-inflammatory properties.

I have also had great success using homeopathy in the form of oral pills and topical creams for back pain. The key remedies I use are Arnica (for immediate pain after an injury) and ‘Rhus tox’ (when movement relieves pain, particularly in the morning). Hypericum can also be used for back

pain with nerve radiations or when there has been trauma to the tailbone. I have also found the tissue salt ‘Mag phos’ to be useful in alleviating muscle spasms. These can be purchased from health food shops or from homeopathic pharmacies such as Helios or Ainsworths.

More and more research is now highlighting the link between vitamin D deficiencies and long-term musculoskeletal pain. Even in back pain, a lack of vitamin D could be a key contributing factor. This is very interesting given that most individuals in the UK have below optimal levels of vitamin D. We get most of our vitamin D from sunlight, so it is advisable to get safe levels of sun exposure. Dietary vitamin D can be taken by eating foods such as wild salmon, mackerel, sardines and sun-exposed mushrooms. I would also suggest supplementing vitamin D3 especially during winter months; a combined supplement of D3 with vitamin K2 is preferable, because they work closely together.

Topical applications can be helpful in alleviating back pain and offering relief. The herb Devil’s Claw can be used in a gel form for pain that is related to inflammation (worse in the morning and improves with movement). Keep this gel chilled in the fridge and apply it to the site of pain. The cold temperature will make the gel more effective by reducing any local swelling and heat. Arnica cream is legendary for supporting general aches and pains, especially if one feels ‘bruised’ (whether there has been impact or not).

Essential oils can be added to carrier oils such as almond, jojoba or coconut oil. Frankincense can be used for any inflammation in the back due it its excellent anti-inflammatory properties, whilst peppermint can be used for its muscle Top tip

A sprinkle of cinnamon over fruit or porridge helps stabilise blood sugar levels.

relaxant and cooling effects.

Good quality and quantity of sleep is also important as it provides the sufferer with time to heal. It is advisable to get 7-9 hours’ sleep per night in a quiet, dark room. This could be aided by wearing an eye mask to minimise light entry into the eyes because darkness is essential to release the hormone Melatonin, which is needed for sleep and restoration. Removing electricals from the bedroom such as mobile phones, chargers and laptops, which can also disrupt sleep rhythms, is essential. Alternatively placing mobile phones on flight mode and switching off Wi-Fi can also help.

If back pain is disturbing sleep, sleeping on the side with a pillow between the knees whilst keeping the neck in a neutral position on pillows can help minimise the strain on joints and muscles in the back. Sufferers should not sleep on their front!

Manual therapies such as Osteopathy and Chiropractic can be effective at addressing the key physical causes of back pain symptoms. These, along with other natural therapies such as acupuncture, can successfully address back symptoms. It is essential to recognise that areas and systems of the body do not work in isolation and so incorporating a naturopathic approach can be effective in managing and potentially resolving back pain.

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