Ayurveda for back and neck pain

According to Ayurveda,back and neck pain mainly occurs due to poor or unhealthy diet and bad posture, which in turn results in the lack of flexibility of the muscles, causing severe pain in the upper, middle or lower back. As the pain continues to aggravate, it tends to spread to both the sides of the waist as well as the hip. Although back pain can be associated with a number of reasons, spinal disc problems, ligament injuries, injuries from sprains, fractures, or accidents, and pelvic inflammatory diseases are considered to be the major causes

To put it precisely, back pain can mainly occur due to:

1. Sedentary lifestyle, stressful jobs, anxiety, depression, obesity, smoking, strenuous physical exercises, and physical works.

2. Spinal cord infections that cause fever and lethargy

3. Spinal cord tumours that compress the spine and nerve roots, thus causing excruciating pain.

4. Hereditary - Certain causes of back pain, including ankylosing spondylitis (a kind of arthritis that affects the spinal cord), are hereditarily transferred from one generation to the other.

If not completely, back pain can be effectively controlled to a certain extent with the following day-today activities:

1.       Regular exercises will help keep your back muscles strong and healthy

2.       Walking can keep your stomach as well as back muscles healthy

3.       Maintain a healthy weight

4.       Try to maintain healthy and safe postures

5.       Avoid heavy lifting whenever possible

Ayurveda cites imbalance of Vata dosha as the main reason for back pain, which is called Nitambha Shoola in traditional ayurvedic texts. This can occur due to muscle and/or bone weaknesses, the reason why most of the ayurvedic treatments for back pain focus on regaining the balance of Vata dosha. 

A few of the common traditional ayurvedic treatment patterns for back pain or lumbago includes:

1.       Use of medicinal herbs

2.       Ayurvedic diets

3.       Upanaha or medicinal poultice

4.       Dhanyamla dhara or pouring of fermented medicated liquid

5.       Pizhichil

6.       Abhiyangamam

7.       Kativasthi

8.       Kizhi