Foods for Back Pain

Here we go again.

Unsurprisingly, my back is hurting again. Might be because of too much sitting - I've been sitting in front of the computer since morning. Sure, I do take 15-minute breaks every hour (that's the recommended interval) but for guy like me with scoliosis, taking breaks just won't cut it. 

I've talked about inversion therapy on my last post but purchasing an inversion table or gravity boots right now is out of the question. They're pretty darn expensive, even the ones they say are cheap. Might try hanging upside down on monkey bars sometime.

Kidding aside, I think I also have to manage the kinds of food I eat. There must be some connection to back pain and food intake...I think.

Well, there actually is! I just recently found it.

Here are some foods that helps ease back pain. I hope they're effective because I'll really have to swing on them monkey bars if they're not. Most of these food contains anti-inflammatory enzymes that heals the body. o it might be effective against bulging discs or those with recently injured backs. For my scolio? I think not. But they're over all healthy foods so it's not a lost cause. Here's the list:

1. Berries - Contains anti-inflammatory enzymes that heals the body.

2. Grass-fed Beef - Contains less saturated fats and contains CLA that helps lose weight. So if you're body pain is caused by excessive weight, eating grass-fed beef is a good way to lose weight without the hassle of eating non-tasty foods.

3. Pineapples - Contains anti-inflammatory enzymes that heals the body.

4. Garlic - Contains anti-inflammatory enzymes that heals the body. Garlic is also found out to be a mild painkiller. 

5. Milk - This is pretty obvious. Calcium derived from milk will help the bones get stronger, thus more able to support the upper body weight.

6. Turmeric - Contains anti-inflammatory enzymes that heals the body. Like garlic, turmeric is also found out to be a mild painkiller. 

7. Green Tea - Just hearing about Green Tea makes me healthy already. Green tea contains a lot of flavonoids and polyphenols that helps to detoxify the body.

8. Fish with Omega-3 - Substances found in these types of fish are effective pain killers.

9. Water - The body is made up of almost 70% water. Sometimes, back pain is caused by the lack of intervertebral fluids that cushions each vertebra. Drinking adequate amounts of water keeps the spaces in the discs hydrated thus minimizing the risk of back pain.

Well, these are some foods that I found to be helpful. Honestly, I haven't eaten turmeric yet (or maybe I've eaten one but never really realized it). I'm eating (and drinking) quite a bit of those mentioned above, so we'll see how my back responds. 

Read More

What Is Inversion Therapy?

Given my age, I’ve been recently having back pains – my bones are obviously degenerating! I’m not as strong as I used to be and it’s quite hard to accept the fact that I am getting weaker by the day. At least, the pain is an on-and-off kind of pain. But it is still annoying. Of course, I’m eating and drinking the right food – dairy foods for Calcium and fatty fish for stronger muscles, among others. But still, I’m looking for something new that I can add to my alternative med paraphernalia. And of course I want to share something new to you.

So, being an alternative medicine junkie, I’ve searched the internet about things that would make the pain stop. I know the pain is not as frequent or as painful as other back issues like sciatica of even scoliosis, but as they say, prevention is better than cure. I’m not going to sit around wait for the pain to fully take their toll.

What I found are these machinesthat turn you upside-down. They are called inversion tables and they are said to decompress the spine. I did a little bit more research and found out that inversion therapy is a healing technique that counters the effects of gravity to the spine.

You see, our spine slowly but surely get compressed under our upper body weight. This is of course aided with gravity. This compression squeezes out much needed fluids from our spine. There’s also the possibility of pinching some nerves which would further result to sharp back pains. These are the stuff of nightmares that inversion therapy wants to counter.

BUT, given that inversion therapy alters your body’s natural state (it turns you upside down), there must be some risk involved in it. It turns out that this healing technique is not for all – those with high blood pressure, glaucoma, and conjunctivitis cannot partake in inversion therapy. More harm will be done to them than good. I still have to do further research with this but of course you can do it on your own.

I haven’t been able to try one yet, but I’ve seen one in my previous physiotherapist’s office. I might go back there again sometime to try it out. These are sold on Amazon too so that’s an option. It IS quite tempting.

Has anyone of you tried inversion therapy? What can you say about it?

Read More