Back pain affects many people, and it can have a huge range of causes. Finding out what’s causing it isn’t always easy, but many treatments can help, even without an exact diagnosis. If you get a sore back, it can affect your life in a variety of different ways. From the quality of your sleep to your social life, you can find that chronic back pain turns everything on its head. When it has a huge impact on your life, you need to find ways to manage it. You can look for general treatments and consider how you can control its effect on different areas of your life.
Disrupting Your Sleep
Sleeping well is vital for your health. It gives your body time to repair itself, helps to maintain your mental health, and can even help you lose weight and have glowing skin. When you’re not sleeping well, it can throw everything off, and back pain can make it difficult to sleep. When back pain is disrupting your sleep, the best thing to do is often to make sure that you have the right bed and that you’re sleeping in the right position. A new mattress or even a new pillow could be the answer to your uncomfortable nights.
Difficulty with Movement and Exercise
General difficulties moving can affect your life in a number of different ways. Many different back problems can cause pain and discomfort. Some, like retrolisthesis, might be caused by an injury, while others could result from lifestyle factors like working at a desk all day. If you’re finding it hard to do your regular activities and exercise, it can feel like your life has been brought to a halt. Rest and painkillers will often help but, although it might seem contradictory, exercise is the answer for a lot of people. Gentle exercises for the back or physical activity like going for a walk can be excellent ways to tackle the problem.
Making It Difficult to Work
Back pain can make it more difficult to do your job, whether it’s a physical job or you sit at a desk all day. Sometimes you might have no choice but to take time off work until you’re feeling better. Giving yourself time to heal could be a better idea than trying to push on, perhaps causing yourself a further injury. However, some people might find that they can continue to work and address their back pain while working. For example, if you have an office job, you can make sure you have a supportive and comfortable chair. Getting up regularly to stretch is also a smart thing to do.
Impacting Your Social Life
If back pain is affecting your social life, it can be hard to get it back on track. You turn down going out with your friends because your back is sore, and perhaps they’re understanding the first few times. But if you don’t see anyone for a while, it could feel isolating – and your friends aren’t always willing or able to come to you. Apart from dealing with your pain, you might also find it useful to think of a few activities that you can do that require minimal physical exertion. Maybe you can’t go hiking with your friends, but you can manage going out for a coffee.
Struggling to Spend Quality Time with Family
As well as having trouble maintaining your social life, back pain might impact your family life. Maybe it’s difficult to pick up your kids, or you find yourself withdrawing from family time because you’re in pain. Being open with your family to help them be more understanding is helpful, but might only get you so far. While you’re looking for ways to deal with your pain, it might also be a good idea to make some adjustments so you can still enjoy the quality family time. For example, maybe your family day out can become a family day in.
Having an Effect on Your Mental Health
Chronic pain can also have an effect on your mental health. Dealing with pain a lot of the time is often distressing. Even if you’re being proactive and looking for ways to treat your pain, nothing happens instantaneously. If your back pain is taking an emotional toll, you should make sure that you talk about it with someone. Stress and anxiety about your pain could make it worse by causing you to tense up. It’s also smart to find some ways to relax, whether you meditate or perhaps do some yoga, which could help your back at the same time.
Back pain can be tough to deal with. If it’s affecting your life, you need to find ways to address it that work for you.
