Back pain affects so many of us. Be it from genetics or a chronic condition, something environmental, a temporary tweak from lifting something, or a stiff back from work, back pain’s one of the most common pain symptoms in the world.
There are many pharmaceutical medications given for back pain, all with health risks. There are tips on how to reduce or avoid back pain but they don’t always work. For some, back pain is unavoidable after a day’s work. For others, it can become chronic, slowly affecting one’s functioning and quality of life.
An infrared sauna reduces and treats back pain at the source, with no side effects and without posing significant health risks. Infrared sauna isn’t just about heat, either. A sauna’s about circulation, targeted heat deep into the tissue, and bringing oxygen-rich blood to the areas of your body that need it. You’re kicking the body’s natural pain-killing response into high gear, simultaneously as your healing speeds up as well.
What is the cause of your back pain?
Approximately 80 percent of adults experience back pain at some point in their lifetime. If you can deduce what the cause of it is, if there’s a way to modify your behaviour or avoid what’s caused you such discomfort, of course you’ll want to do it. Unfortunately, this isn’t possible for everyone.
A lot of us incur back pain from work. Back pain is the most common cause of job-related disabilities and contributes to hundreds of thousands of missed work days every year. Back pain can be tough to get rid of because of how often we use our backs. They support a lot of our weight, after all. This is why, for a lot of people, ongoing care and attention is required to overcome the back pain that’s holding them back.
Why your brain isn’t helping your back pain
When our brains and bodies perceive pain in our backs, a response is generated and unfortunately it’s not a positive one. Our body interprets pain as a threat so it switches into a protective mode where muscles become tense, movement gets restricted, and there’s also anxiety and fear of movement.
All this back pain and tension leads way eventually to muscle spasms, nerve sensitivity, adrenaline, and the intensification of pain. The more pain you have, the stronger the response. In this way, back pain can become training for your brain to feel more pain. The pain-killers we take lack effectiveness in the face of this increasing pain. This is why so many people with back pain get worse. A sauna can help.
Common strategies to help reduce back pain
There’s a lot that’s recommended to help eliminate back pain. Through some strategies work, others do not. Here’s what you’re likely to hear when you go to a doctor with back pain.
Sleep. If you aren’t sleeping well or are sleeping without proper back support, one can worsen back pain. This is why chronic back pain sufferers oftentimes seek out new mattresses and pillows as help.
Posture can affect neck pain and back pain, with us looking down at our phones and slouching being common finds. If you aren’t sitting with correct posture or are standing extensively with a slouch, you could be making back pain worse.
Physical therapy is recommended for back pain, for those who can afford it. A physical therapist can teach strength-building exercises and stretches to help support your back better, providing more core strength and hopefully remedying pain in this area.
Medication for back pain prescribed include NSAIDs, acetaminophen, and anti-inflammatories. In some cases, though increasingly rare, a doctor may prescribe medical-grade cannabis or opioids.
Massages for back pain have been show to increase blood flow and relax sore muscles. For some, a massage may feel too intense. Please note the same benefits from a back pain massage can be achieved in an infrared sauna.
Hot and cold therapies provide temporarily relief of pain, helping to stimulate circulation and reducing inflammation. If you’re in the moment with a lot of pain, applying ice to reduce inflammation and then heat to relax the muscles, this is oftentimes an effective strategy.
Choose an infrared sauna for back pain over medications
For acute or chronic back pain, saunas have been shown to be highly effective at reducing pain. How a sauna works on back pain is by using infrared rays to penetrate up to three inches deep into the body. These rays open up blood vessels, gets nutrient-rich blood to the muscles and ligaments, and the warming allows the muscles and ligaments to feel less stiff.
The benefits of using a sauna don’t just last the 15-30 minutes you’re inside one, either. The advantages of using a sauna regularly are that the benefits can continue throughout the day. Saunas help people sleep better, help athletes recover from injuries and are a post-workout recommendation, have brain-boosting benefits, and so much more. You’re giving your body a lot to work with which can have a significant impact on the intensity of your back pain.
What does research say about back pain and infrared saunas?
Clinically proven as a strategy to reduce back pain, infrared saunas work like muscle relaxers. Sports medicine researchers found, in fact, that saunas and similar low-level heat therapies were more effective than over-the-counter oral medications like Tylenol and others. When a sauna’s combined with stretching immediately afterwards, the positive effects on back pain can be increasingly pronounced. The amount of pain relief found from a sauna, multiple studies have shown to be somewhere around 50 percent after a single treatment with further reductions coming following multiple treatments.
A sauna is an opportunity to feel good, relaxed, and healthy
Using a sauna does not necessarily mean your back pain is going to disappear and there’s no longer anything to worry about. Chances are if you have back pain, there’s a cause. If this isn’t addressed, back pain’s likely to continue indefinitely and you’ll always be playing a game of catch-up with a sauna or other strategies.
Back problems most commonly will come from a strain or over-exertion leading to tension. A sauna, combined with being more active, can relax this tension and then, strengthen the muscles. Ideally, this is the approach you want to have in remedying pain. Medications work temporarily and will only cover up the pain, without providing the body with any building blocks to recover completely from what’s causing it so much discomfort. Back pain’s difficult to treat in Western medicine because the resources doctors have available to them is so limited. Comparatively, a sauna and frequent, light to moderate exercise does make a difference.
Can I use a sauna for other chronic pain – yes!
An infrared sauna doesn’t just target back pain. The infrared rays reach into the body at every which angle and throughout the entirety of the body, pain’s reduced. If you have knee pain, shoulder pain, neck pain, elbow pain, headaches, foot pain, or sore or achy muscles, the heat from a sauna’s going to reach into the muscles and ligaments in all these areas, reducing inflammation and increasing oxygen-rich, nutrient-dense circulation direct to where it’s needed.
If you suffer from chronic pain, buy an infrared sauna. Set it up in your home. Living a life in pain isn’t fun and unfortunately, for some, it’s unavoidable. That doesn’t mean you can’t reduce the intensity of pain now and again. With an infrared sauna readily available, when you need it, access it and gain the benefits. Chronic sufferers who use a sauna 4-7 times a week see a multitude of benefits, ranging from pain relief to increased mental focus. Some even find they’re able to taper down or get completely off pain-killing medications such as narcotics. The results are real and achievable!