Quick relief from back pain

Are pain pills not helping your aching back? Harvard Medical School reports that drugs like acetaminophen relieve back pain no better than a placebo. What is science-proven to work? These simple natural tips! Walk around the block

The simplest prescription of back pain: taking a 20- to 40-minute walk a few times a week. “Back pain is usually caused by muscles being tight and shortened,” explains Jacob Teitelbaum, M.D., author of Pain

Free 1–2–3. “Walking not only stretches muscles, it strengthens the back and abdominal muscles that support the spine, so they are less likely to seize up on you.” In fact, research published in the journal Clinical Rehabilitation

found walking to be as effective at eliminating back pain as some forms of in-office physical therapy.

Tense and release

Back pain kicks off a vicious circle, triggering the body to tense up, which in turn ratchets up the pain even more. But new Italian research finds that 10 minutes of a simple relaxation technique breaks the cycle, causing pain scores to plummet. “Progressive muscle relaxation is an easy process in which you tense a group of muscles as you breathe in, and then you relax those muscles as you breathe out,” explains Michelle Ebbin, author of The Touch Remedy: Hands-on Solutions to De-stress

Your Life. “This eases physical tension responsible for chronic back pain.” Enter the search terms “progressive muscular relaxation” on Youtube for free video guides.

Rub on this!

British research reveals that folks who rubbed a comfrey cream on their backs decreased the intensity of their pain by 95% in five days. “A variety called traumaplant is so powerful that research has shown it to be even more effective than pain medications,” says Dr. Teitelbaum, who advises choosing one “free of pyrrolizidine alkaloids,” which are toxic to the liver. One to try: Terry Naturally Traumaplant.