What to Do about Lower Back Pain If You Can Barely Walk

You know you shouldn’t have tried to carry that heavy box by yourself, but you thought you could handle it. Now, you have debilitating lower back pain. In fact, you find it difficult and painful to walk at all! What exactly are your options for dealing with this situation? What should you do if you can barely walk because of your lower back pain? Keep reading to learn some actions you can take.

Use At-Home Remedies

Most of the time, lower back pain can generally be managed on your own and goes away within a few days. Remedies you can try at home include the following:

• Rest, most likely by lying down straight.
• Contact your chiropractor.
• Taking over-the-counter pain reliever and anti-inflammatory like ibuprofen.
• Heat and cold therapy, where you alternate applying a heat pad and a cold compress on your lower back.
• Mild exercise or movement, which is important to keep muscles loose and blood flowing.

With these remedies, you may find that walking becomes a little less painful, allowing you to get to your chiropractor’s office and then return, albeit perhaps slowly, to some normal activities.

Start Treatment with Your Chiropractor

Hopefully, doing at-home remedies will help make it easier to walk at least! If you find that lower back pain persists beyond a day or two or is only marginally improved with this type of care, it is time to see your chiropractor. Depending on how severe your pain is, you may need to have a friend or family member drive you to the office for your first appointment.

Your chiropractor can diagnose the underlying issue causing your lower back pain and begin treatment to rectify it. Treatment most likely will involve realigning the spine, relaxing strained muscles through a therapeutic massage, or other therapies.

Later: Actively Prevent Future Lower Back Pain

Believe it or not, even after lower back pain goes away, the work isn’t over! If you want to avoid experiencing that kind of pain again, you’ll need to take certain steps to prevent it. Fortunately, these steps are fairly basic: stay active; use good posture when lifting heavy objects, sitting, and standing; keep your head properly elevated when you sleep; and visit the chiropractor regularly for maintenance.

Ultimately, although lower back pain can be excruciating and can make walking a challenge in the moment, when you take the right steps, it doesn’t last forever. When you work with your chiropractor, you can get past this pain and get back to living life.

About the Author

In Naples, Dr. Chad Wills has been practicing chiropractic care for more than 20 years. As one of only two in the Collier and Lee County certified in Chiropractic Biophysics, he has qualifications in the most extensively researched treatment protocol that not many others have. If you are experiencing lower back pain, you can schedule an appointment at Wills Chiropractic online or call the office at 239-331-6060.