Inflammation, back pain and how we can help reduce it with diet

What happens when we injure our back

- We all know the feeling when we have strained our back, the pain can sometime be very debilitating. This can often happen when we lift something, we either lift it awkwardly, or the object is too heavy for us. This results in a strain of the muscle or joint. When this happens, we get small tears in the muscle, this will result in inflammation and pain. The pain and healing can take several weeks to resolve depending on the severity of the injury.

- The second reason we can feel our back is injury is when it happens over a period of time (chronic lower back injury). This can be due to sitting at a desk all day, weakness in the lower back or commonly arthritis in the joints of the lower back. Arthritis essentially means inflammation in the affected joints. There are two common types of arthritis in the lower back, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Both types of arthritis have different causes, but both produce inflammation of the joint.

How can we reduce inflation naturally?

- Conventional NSAIDs (anti inflammatory drugs) can be effective short term to reduce the level of inflammation after an acute injury, by reducing the level of inflammation you will also get some pain relief which is great in the case of acute severe pain! However long-term use of NSAIDs have been shown to be very tough on the lining of the stomach and aggravate gastrointestinal problems.

- Diet, this is one of the most overlooked ways in which we can naturally reduce inflammation in our bodies. Omega -3 fats are one of the best ways of doing this, you can eat wild fish which contains high levels of omega-3.

Here at the Johns Green Chiropractic clinic, Kilkenny, we recommend chatting to our chiropractor to see what may benefit you. If you would like any further information the please contact us on 0567715775 or info@chiropractorkilkenny.com