Hypnotherapy for chronic back pain
If we are to believe what we read in the press Lily Allen broke down in tears during a gig because her back pain was so severe, Bono had surgery in a bid to fix his and former Prime Minister Gordon Brown decided to try Pilates to keep his strong.
The celebs are not the only ones though, a whopping 2.5 million Brits are also thought to suffer from back troubles with 80 per cent of us being affected at some point.
Though the chances are we will almost certainly battle with back pain during our lives even if only for a short time, there are certain precautions we can take to ensure we minimise the pain, length of time and damage.
The first thing to remember is not to panic as back pain is likely to ease with time. However for half of those who do experience an episode, back pain is likely to reoccur within the next two years.
Though in the past many individuals have been advised to rest their backs in order for the pain to subside, this is not the best advice for everyone. Our backs were actually designed to help us move and don’t fair well in situations where we sit dormant at a desk for hours each day.
The initial theory was that resting the weight bearing spinal column allowed inflammation to settle resulting in the pain going away. However, though it is good to rest for a day or two at the start of an episode of back pain, too mush rest can result in stiffness, muscle wastage, bone weakness and depression.
A good tip is to make a note of the activities you do and when you experience pain, as this will give you some indication of what may be causing it so you can avoid it in the future.
If your back pain has become so severe that it is beginning to affect your quality of life and your ability to carry out every day tasks then visit your GP who will be able to provide you with the appropriate support and advice and may refer you to a pain management specialist. You may also find hypnotherapy a very useful tool at this stage and if you would like to find out about how hypnosis may be able to help please visit our pain management fact sheet.