HELP BACK PAIN NATURALLY

HEALTH AND WELLNESS PROFESSIONALS OFFER SOME SIMPLE AND EFFECTIVE WAYS TO RELIEVE THIS COMMON AND DEBILITATING PROBLEM EATING WELL BREATHING TECHNIQUES

If you’re one of the almost four million Aussies who suffer from back pain, you’ll know all about the significant physical and emotional impact that it can have on your everyday life.

Back pain can be caused by a variety of issues, including injury, disc disease, arthritis, osteoporosis, and poor posture, while being overweight and smoking can also increase the risks. It’s always wise to see your GP or health practitioner to get a diagnosis – especially if pain is severe or ongoing – but there are practical ways you can use to help reduce back pain. Here, health practitioners offer their top tips. Breathing correctly is one of the most important things for back pain says physiotherapist Caelum Trott from Vital Aspect. ‘Deep belly breaths help create spinal support and reduce muscle tightness,’ he explains.

You could also try a breathing technique used by meditators to help pain that comes on suddenly, says meditation facilitator, Hannah Hempenstall. ‘When you feel a spasm or are experiencing acute pain, try pausing and focusing on your breath,’ she suggests. ‘Our tendency is to want to push pain away but if we acknowledge it and breathe into it for five to 10 minutes it can help reduce the stress response, which has an effect on reducing the pain.’

Everything stopped for AnneMaree Newbery early last year when she received the news her 14-year-old daughter Ella, then living with her father in Proserpine, had suffered a stroke.

“Ella’s dad had returned from walking the dogs to find Ella on the floor, semiunconscious and non-communicative,” says Anne-maree, who immediately flew from her home on Sydney’s northern beaches to Townsville Hospital where Ella had been airlifted.

“The stroke was quite dense so it had affected a large part of her brain. For the first couple of weeks she couldn’t speak, was paralysed down the entire right side of her body, couldn’t move, speak or even swallow.”

To receive the best care available and be close to her mother, sisters Caitlin, 16, and Sienna, 10, and stepfather Ian, Ella was transferred to Sydney’s Children’s Hospital in Randwick, where she would remain for three months while undergoing intensive rehabilitation.

“She’s had to learn everything again, how to walk, talk, eat,” explains AnneMaree. “Fatigue is a big issue, because her brain is working so hard to do normal everyday functions that ablebodied people do without thinking.”

With Anne-maree spending all day by Ella’s side, the situation has been challenging for the whole family, not least Ella’s siblings.

“We underestimate how important normality is for children, a routine, mum being there at night to say good night or help with homework,” she says. “I often felt pulled in every direction.”

Anne-maree says the Ronald Mcdonald Family Room at Sydney Children’s Hospital in Randwick was invaluable at making the circumstances more bearable.

“The hospital is quite cold and sterile, it’s catered to care for really sick children, so the Family Room provided us with a homely environment to escape from that and the whole reality of why we were there,” she says. “We could just be normal, chatting around the kitchen table or watching a movie on the couch together.”

Anne-maree believes the Family Room’s volunteers were a lifeline for the whole family — but especially Ella.

“The volunteers are amazing, so helpful, supportive and welcoming. Without them, the room could not open and they’re the heart and soul of that room,” she says. “When you’d had a hard day, they’d make you a cup of tea and listen if that’s what you needed. To see Ella walk in with a huge smile for the volunteers just pulled on my heartstrings.”

Anne-maree couldn’t be prouder of her daughter’s bravery. Ella is now walking small distances, but her right hand and arm remain weak and she continues to have vision loss and difficulty retrieving information.

“At 14, being fit, healthy and bright with dreams of being a doctor, I would have given anything for it not to be her, but Ella’s been really strong and courageous, she hasn’t shed a tear or had an angry moment,” says AnneMaree. “We’re all really positive, our attitude is don’t give up, don’t give in, just continue striving for the best outcome for Ella.”