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Pulled Back Muscle Remedy

Dealing with an injury to the back is painful and can impede your life by making basic walking, sitting and standing more difficult. To deal with a pulled back muscle effectively, it is important to get a proper diagnosis from a health care professional before starting any exercise programs. The remedy for this injury lies in reducing swelling and increasing healthy blood flow.

  1. Ice to Heat

    • Immediately after incurring a pulled muscle in the back, ice the back for 20 minutes to reduce and prevent swelling. This should be done every four hours for the first 48 hours. This should be followed by an ice to heat routine where the back is iced for 20 minutes and heated for 20 minutes. Note that heat can cause more swelling. Wrapping a bandage around may help reduce swelling while warming the muscles up.

    Anti-Inflammatories

    • Using anti-inflammatory medicines such as ibuprofen will help to reduce the pain and swelling of the muscle pull. Do not allow feeling a little better as a result of pain medication convince you that you can resume strenuous workouts. Give the back time to heal. Test pain levels by reducing medication prior to engaging in strenuous activities to see if the pain level has subsided. This is an indication of healing and suggests that an increase in exercise intensity is suitable.

    Moderate Exercise

    • Stretching the back will increase blood flow to the area. This is important because blood brings nutrients to the injured back muscle. While rest will prevent it from further injury, it will not help the back heal as quickly as progressive, low impact stretching and strengthening of the legs and abdominal core. When these two groups of muscles are stronger, they take stress off the back and can help increase the ability to move and function with less pain.

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