Exercise for back pain relief
When we are stuck with back pain that is taking time to heal and leave us in peace, we have to look at ways to reduce the intensity of the pain. While drugs can help, so can exercise. Studies suggest that the most beneficial type of exercise for reducing the intensity of back pain is high intensity cardiovascular exercises, such as kungfu.
Exercise is medicine!
While it is easy to see how exercise can be beneficial for conditions like reducing blood pressure, heart disease and weight loss, it is perhaps more difficult and even counter intuitive to think of it as a treatment for lower back pain. After all, if your back hurts, the last thing you will want to do is exercise.
Yet while until about a decade ago the medical community would have agreed with this view, more research into the cause and symptoms of lower back pain have resulted in exercise being promoted as a treatment.
The types of back pain
There are three types of lower back pain; acute lower back pain, subacute lower back pain and chronic lower back pain. Acute lower back pain is short term, lasting a few days or a few weeks and tends to heal on its own. Subacute lower back pain on the other hand is defined as pain that lasts between four and 12 weeks.
The worst is chronic lower back pain, which is pain that lasts longer than three months. Some common causes of chronic lower back pain include physical strain and stress on your muscles, joints and ligaments, being overweight, and trouble with unconditioned muscles.
Coping with chronic back pain
Lots of us suffer from back pain, yet one of the hardest areas to stretch out and recover from is lower back pain. There are many treatment options available to low back pain sufferers, ranging from medication to surgery. But exercise is the best!
If you suffer from chronic back pain, exercise may be an answer for you, even though you may not feel much like moving. The medical literature in support of exercise as a treatment for back pain identifies three symptoms of chronic back pain that can be addressed by an exercise regime: improving reduced flexibility, strength and cardiovascular endurance; reducing back pain intensity; reducing back pain-related disability by lessening excessive fear and concerns about it [James Rainville, MD et al 2003.]
Come to a kungfu class and find out how simply moving your body, within your own limitations, can free you from back paid for life.
