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Never do this when you wake up...
10th October 2008
'Oh what a beautiful morrrrrning, oh what a beautiful
daaaay, I gotta beautiful feeeeliiiing, everything's
going my... AAAARGH!'
I wonder if Howard Keel would have been such a
huge heartthrob in the 50s if Rodgers &
Hammerstein had made him sing THOSE lyrics?
I doubt it. And his star would have fallen even
further if he'd proceeded to hobble around clutching
his back like I am this morning.
And all because I saw the sunshine leaking through
the curtains when I woke up. In my excitement I
bounded up, starting singing, and pulled back the
curtains a little too energetically.
Honestly, the hazards of being in your forties.
Still, rather than reach for the Nurofens, at least I
had these powerful natural remedies to choose
from...
What to do when the spring in your step (and
back) goes rusty
Just to make one thing clear, I'm talking about
MINOR back pain here. You know, the types of
aches and creaks you get just because you're old
enough to remember Texan bars and Zcars.
If you have serious back pain, or the complaint
doesn't clear up, always always always go and
see your doctor.
Because even though back pain is seen as a
comedy ailment that Steptoe or Sid James might
get to skive off work, it can be a symptom of a
more serious condition.
But if you're just suffering from an irritating twinge
like I am this morning, then these beauties should
help:
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- Capsaicin is nature's Deep Heat, not surprising
really as it's an active ingredient in chilli
peppers. When it's applied to the skin the
capsaicin seems to dilute a something called
'substance P', a neurochemical responsible for
making us feel pain. (I guess Coldplay are the
musical equivalent of substance P then).
In one test, 320 people were split into two
groups. One was treated with capsaicin for three
weeks, while the other half were given a
placebo. At the end of the three weeks, the 42%
of the capsaicin group reported that their pain
had eased off, compared to 31% of the
placebo group.
There are a wide variety of creams available (this
has to be taken externally to work), but if you'd
like me to do a little more research and find the
best one for you, just drop me a line.
- More reasons to get out in the sunshine...
just don't try singing 'Oh what a beautiful morning'
and throwing the curtains open before you do!
According to a whole load of studies, there is a
strong link between back pain and a lack of
vitamin D. The University of Minnesota looked
at 150 people who suffered with chronic pain
and found that a whopping 93% of them had a
vitamin D deficiency. And as I've said before,
sunshine is a great natural source of vitamin D.
And here's an interesting little fact...
Most people who have a severe vitamin D
deficiency are under 30 years old.
Maybe that's because of all the bleating about
staying out of the sun that's become
fashionable in recent years. In my day, we were
practically thrown out of the house by our
parents to run around, build camps, start fires
(hmmmm... maybe I'll leave that story for
another day).
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But today it's different. Parents are told to make
the sign of the cross and rush their kids inside
at the first sign of sunshine, which is just plain
wrong.
Anyway, the long and short of it is this: if you
suffer from back pain, get more vitamin D into
your system.
- Another vitamin to the rescue. A recent study
showed that people who were given vitamin
B12 for lower back pain showed a significant
reduction in pain. I can't find the exact figures,
but significant sounds... well... significant!
- Willow bark. Here's nature mimicking a man
made drug - aspirin. (Wait a minute, I guess it
was the other way round), thanks to a vital
ingredient in the bark called salicin.
Once salicin enters your body, it's converted
into salicylic acid. And guess what...? Aspirin
turns into exactly the same thing once it hits
your bloodstream.
So if your back's playing up, try one of the above
remedies and see if it helps (and go and see your
doctor before you try anything different).
The best remedy of all - prevention!
Even though I've been keeping fairly fit these days
(compared to my kebab eating, beer drinking former
self), there's a lot more I can do to protect myself in
the future.
Take a look at the following and see how many of
these you're doing...
- Exercise is the absolutely best way to protect
yourself from back pain. The more you exercise,
the more your muscles, ligaments and tendons
will stay flexible and strong, which will help you
cope with sudden movements or impacts.
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But like anything, you don't have to go
overboard to build your body's strength up.
Cycling, walking and swimming are all excellent
low-impact exercises that won't make the veins
on your neck pop with the effort. So make sure
you get out and enjoy a heart-pumping walk
every day, and try and go swimming or cycling
once a week.
- Another reason to cut out the fags... as our
spinal discs have no oxygen supply of their
own, they need a strong supply to be carried to
them through the blood. The more you smoke,
the less oxygen you'll have to go round, which
means your poor discs will suffer, which could
leads to degenerative disc disorders.
- A trick from soldiers... bad posture is
something most of us suffer from because it's
easier to slouch a little bit than stand properly.
In fact if slouching was an Olympic sport, you'd
have seen me waving at you from the gold
medal podium at the Bejing Olympics. But if
you can get your posture right, you'll really up
your chances of avoiding back injuries.
So, in true Sergeant Major fashion, 'ere you go
you 'orrible little man....
Shoulders back, abdominal muscles tight, held
in and pulled up, chin parallel to the ground!
This will seem like the most unnatural stance in the
world to start with. That's how much we've
conditioned our bodies to stand incorrectly.
But keep remembering to improve your posture, and
eventually it will get easier.
And your back will thank you for it. It might even let
you belt out a song and dance around the room
without complaint.
Although in my case, if I'd carried on Lara would
have hurled a hairbrush at the back of my head. And
alas, there's no natural remedy to prevent that.
That's all for today. I'll be back (no pun intended)
again on Sunday. And I'll get up QUIETLY.
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