Burning Back Pain – Causes And Natural Remedies

People from all walks of life can experience sensations of burning back pain. However, it’s more common in those who are older because the underlying physical causes of these symptoms are much more common.

The first thing you should do if experiencing burning back pain, is to consult with your physician. Determining the cause, source and specific location of your pain is vital to treatment.

Muscle spasms, strains or sprains, infectious conditions, shingles or neurological issues such as pinched nerves may be behind all those burning sensations. And in some cases, you may discover you’ve actually burned yourself, which may require immediate treatment in its own right.

However, the most common causes of burning back pain are structural, related to diabetes, spinal degeneration or stenosis, bulging discs, traumatic blows or osteoporosis. Once you’ve identified what you’re dealing with, there are always good treatment options. Here are some of them:

Ice and Heat

If your burning back pain is a response to a trauma, apply a cold compress or cold pack (even a bag of ice or steak wrapped in a washcloth works) on the area several times daily for up to 20 minutes per time. Repeat this process for 3-4 days, even if the burning back pain seems to be subsiding. Make sure you lay a few towel layers down on the body first; don’t put the cold pack directly on the skin, as this could cause frostbite.

At the end of the 3-4 days, apply heat (for example using a heating pad) for periods of 10-15 minutes to relax your muscles as well as increase blood flow to the area. When you apply the heat, don’t forget to lay down two to four towel layers on the skin; never put the heating pad directly on the skin. Another option is to take daily warm baths to help alleviate burning back pain.

While the use of ice and heat hasn’t really been proven scientifically to quickly resolve low back injury, its tendency to reduce pain and inflammation and stimulate blood flow to the traumatized tissue allows for greater mobility for many burning back pain sufferers.

Note: Avoid sleeping on a heating pad, because you could get burned overnight, which then leads to further tissue damage, and more burning back pain.

Bed Rest

Too much bed rest can be as bad, or worse, than not enough. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke notes, “…studies suggest that bed rest alone may make back pain worse and can lead to secondary complications such as depression, decreased muscle tone, and blood clots in the legs.”

Burning back pain is exacerbated if you don’t rest the back to allow it to focus on healing vs. managing physical and emotional stressors. Meanwhile, as the study notes, laying in bed for a week doesn’t allow your back to be a back, causing a unique battery of stressors which can contribute to the existing burning back pain and/or add new pains and strains.

Doctors tend to recommend burning back pain sufferers not only to maintain a regular 7-8 hours of sleep nightly, but to add on another 2-4 hours of rest for the first couple of days post-trauma. Meanwhile, continue with your regular activities so you don’t further stress your back by not moving about.

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