Ayurveda
Ayurveda, the science of life, has both curative and preventive perspectives. Health according to Ayurveda, revolves around the concept of 3 doshas – Vata, Pitta and Kapha. Vata is an energy factor which governs all the movements in the body. Pitta governs transformation and Kapha governs functions like lubrication and growth. Low back pain is considered as a Vata imbalance as per Ayurveda.
Low Back Pain
Low back pain is one of the commonest complaints that come to an Ayurvedic clinic. Back pain treatment in Dubai is considered one of the most sought after research. Almost everyone will experience low back pain at least once in their lifetime.
Acute low back pain can be caused due to any injury or trauma to the anatomical structures of the low back region. Injury can occur from abnormal stress on normal tissues or normal stress on damaged or degenerated tissues. It is experienced as sudden shooting pain, dull ache, or stabbing pain. If the pain persists for more than 3 months, then the condition is considered chronic.
To find the cause behind LBP, it is very important to know the anatomical structures related to the low back region. The low back region normally has bony vertebras, spinal cord, a cushiony gel wrapped in a tough membrane called a disc, cartilages connecting the facets of adjacent vertebras, ligaments that hold vertebras and disc together, tendons connecting muscle to vertebras, fascia, the muscle tissue of lumbar region, internal organs of pelvis and abdomen. As these many structures contribute to low back pain, specific diagnosis is seldom possible.
The most common diagnosis for low back pain are:
It is characterized by acute onset of pain in the low back region, buttock, or posterior thigh. The pain can increase with activity or bending. Local tenderness and limited movement of the spine are observed during the examination.
Acute sharp/burning radiating pain is the usual symptom of disc herniation. The person may point out that the pain can get severe on coughing, sneezing, straining, sitting, and forward bending.
Back pain will be associated with leg pain and aggravates with exertion and backward bending. The symptoms often occur on standing up or walking, and to relieve symptoms, the person needs to sit down. Walking downhill will be difficult in this condition but walking uphill or bicycling doesn't increase the pain. There is a possibility of a decrease or loss of bowel and bladder function depending on the degree of stenosis.
This is mostly seen in people who perform repetitive spinal extension movements like in athletics, gymnastics, weight lifting, etc. The condition is caused due to a crack or stress fracture to the vertebra and presents as lower back pain or muscle strain which worsens with extension.
Inflammatory back pain (IBP)
Inflammatory back pain is usually a subset of chronic LBP, although it accounts for few cases of acute LBP. The pain is localized to the axial spine and sacroiliac joints. We can also observe that the pain is insidious in onset and associated with stiffness. The condition worsens on rest and is found to be better with activity, and often worse at night and in the morning. A person with IBP tends to wake up at night to find a comfortable position to partially relieve the pain and stiffness.
The classic association of inflammatory back pain symptoms is with ankylosing spondylitis; however, IBP may also be present in other seronegative spondyloarthropathies such as psoriatic arthritis, enteropathic arthropathy, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, and reactive arthritis. The onset of this condition is usually found before the age of 40 yrs. LBP can be associated with a history of psoriasis, Reiter disease, colitis, or ankylosing spondylitis. Pain is found to get relieved with activity.
Other conditions presenting with back pain are Pelvic inflammatory disease, renal calculi, chronic cystitis, congenital spinal canal stenosis, Spinal Bifida, Tumor in the spine, Tuberculosis (of the spine), etc.
How does modern medicine diagnose LBP?
A plain radiograph is advised first to rule out any malignancies or infection, fracture, and sacroiliitis. CT and MRI have become the major line of investigations and are valuable for the diagnosis of the disc disease and spinal stenosis. MRI may reveal herniated disc in person with no pain in the low back region. Such people wouldn't require any treatment, but they could adopt Ayurvedic principles to prevent any progression to pain.
What is the management protocol of modern medicine?
Modern medicine aims at relieving the symptoms by the use of pain killers or through physiotherapy and traction. If these measures fail, patients are advised to undergo invasive procedures like epidural injections or surgery to release the pressure on the nerves that get pinched to get relief or to avoid further complications. Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulations are not much effective in the Back pain treatment. Muscle relaxants are advised to relieve the pain but NSAIDs/over-the-counter medicines are showing some benefit in reducing the pain. NSAIDs are effective for short-term relief of symptoms from sudden LBP. Patient satisfaction, however, is higher with hands-on types of therapy.
What does Ayurveda say about low back pain?
Ayurveda considers low back pain as Kati Graha and Kati soola. Vata is the main dosa involved and the imbalance of Vata dosa is the cause of this condition. How does impaired Vata cause the condition? Well, the imbalanced Vata impacts the mamsa, asthi, and majja of the low back region and alters the normalcy. Vata stiffens the muscle, deforms the majja and Asti and it presents as soola or pain of that region. Vata dosa can combine with pitta or Kapha and can result in inflammatory or non-inflammatory back pain.
What is the cause of Vata imbalance that leads to back pain?
Vata imbalance is caused due to the accumulation of toxins or ama in the body tissues. The ama (toxins) form when there is sluggish digestion due to hampered Agni (digestive and metabolic fire). The impaired Agni further produces more toxins and less nutrition. All the toxins get accumulated in the tissues and joints causing an imbalance of Vata alone or with Pitta/ Kapha imbalance in the low back region causing LBP.
Exposure to cold, nishaa-jagarana (staying awake at night), poor hydration, controlling natural urges like urination, defecation, etc., excessive exercise, travel, pregnancy, constipation, obesity, emaciation, anxiety, fear, and grief can have its effect on misbalancing Vata and causing the pain.
Involvement of pitta along with Vata is seen in inflammatory back pain. In here, one could feel or understand the involvement of pitta when the pain is intense, burning, and inflammation of the surrounding tissues occurs.
A dull, aching deep pain that is associated with congestion, obesity, depression, numbness, and indigestion proves the involvement of Kapha along with Vata. This condition can be compared to non-inflammatory back pain.
How can Ayurveda help to manage back pain?
One should look for the aggravating factors that are specific to one's own body, mind, emotions, environment, lifestyle, food preferences, and working conditions. By identifying and eliminating such causes it will be easy to prevent, cure or reduce the pain.
In persons with Vata predominant Prakriti (psychosomatic constitution), they are easily prone to movement-related diseases. Such a person should adopt regimens that will help to keep Vata under control.
A Vata-dominant person should follow a regular daily routine, manage stress through meditation and other calming activities, and maintain a warm body temperature by avoiding cold weather and consuming warm foods and drinks which are Snigdha (unctuous). Consume natural food which is predominantly sweet, sour, and salty in taste. Avoid dry, cold, and processed food.
Working in air-conditioned spaces, sitting for long hours can aggravate Vata and stiffen the muscles. Try to do some stretches occasionally to warm up your body. A daily self-body massage with oil can be added to your routine. Proper sleep is very important and staying awake at night can aggravate Vata.
Ayurveda has many approaches in treating low back pain. It can be done by living in harmony with nature by adopting principles in Ayurveda. This harmony can be achieved by adhering to a unique combination of Ayurvedic principles which is suitable for your body and mind. The principles are:
Shamana chikitsa - pacifying Ayurveda back pain treatment - can be done internally and externally. Internal therapy is by providing herbal medicines that can eliminate or reduce the toxins. Pachana (digesting) and deepana (appetizing) herbs are advised to eliminate the toxins and thus reduce the cause.
When the causative factors are removed, we can focus on exactly treating the back pain. As long as the causes still exist, back pain can relapse. Thus by adopting Ayurvedic principles like Dina charya, Ritu charya, etc., one can prevent the condition.
Medications indicated in this condition are: Rasnasaptakam Kashayam, Rasnerandadi Kashayam, Yogaraja Guggulu, Sahacharadi Kashayam, Dhanwantaram gulika, Murivenna, Kottamchukkadi taila, Karpooradi Taila etc.
Externally, treatment procedures like kizhi (medicinal pouch treatment), Kati vasti, Kati Pichu, abhyanga, dhanyamla Dhara, Pizhichil, etc., can be adopted considering the dosha predominance.
After properly assessing each level of the condition, Ayurvedic doctors at our centers can help you plan out the whole treatment unique for the disease and your psychosomatic constitution. These procedures are done by using kottakkal Ayurveda products in our centers.
Shodhana chikitsa - Ayurveda treatment for back pain through bio-purification
Panchakarma is the five (Pancha) actions (karma) necessary to cleanse the body of accumulated waste material. It benefits the body by cleansing the digestive tract, increases energy and vitality, improved digestion and assimilation, strengthens the immune system, assists in balancing the mind, reduces stress and anxiety, promotes a night of healthy sleep, enables healthy weight loss, detoxifies the liver and blood. The panchakarma protocol for the condition of back pain includes Snehapana (therapeutic oral ingestion of increasing quantities of medicated ghee as part of Panchakarma), Virechana (medicated purgation), and Basti (medicated enema with herbal formulations).
Yoga
Yoga, with its spiritual and psychological underpinnings, potentially might provide greater benefit to mind as well as body because of its ability to influence both mind and body at the same time. Some of the poses for low backache are
Pranayama
Breath control is called pranayama, and meditation is just as significant as yoga poses (asanas). Certain breathing exercises and meditation techniques can help to link your mind and body, and thus ease back pain. Meditation and pranayama can relax your body and unclench the tense back muscles. It can also help decrease your perception of pain by allowing you to concentrate on something other than the pain.
Breathing techniques like inhaling to a count of 5 and then exhaling to a count of 5, are simple and can be done while sitting or lying down. However, you can do these exercises in your car or at your desk.
Marma chikitsa
Marma chikitsa is a technique developed to promote the healing of the damaged tissues by stimulating the energy points in our body called marma. Touching or stimulating with controlled pressure at the exact position for a specific period can help in healing the damaged tissues and organs. These marma points are specific areas on the body, which have relation through Pranic channels to various internal organs, doshas, and srotas. Specified techniques were developed to have therapeutic effects while stimulating these marma points. The marma points of low back regions are: parsva sandhi, katika tarunam, nitamba, kukundara. Depending on various factors like severity, duration, cause of low back pain, the marma points to be stimulated and duration of stimulation will vary. Care has to be taken for adequate pressure application only to avoid complications. Identification of each marma is also very important for optimum results of the therapy and initially should be done under expert guidance only. Marma massage is available at our Ayurveda centers in Dubai and Ajman.
Physical exercise
Exercise is a cornerstone of Back pain treatment and is very helpful in the chronic state. It helps to prevent any weakness/ contractures of the muscle. The exercise adopted should focus on flexion and extension which could strengthen abdominal and lumbar muscles. Core strengthening should be the aim of exercises. A patient should strictly follow the exercises and include them in their daily routine. Stretching exercises are recommended for beginners, once the weakness and contractures are reduced, and then they can shift to isometric strengthening exercises.
Whether your lower back pain originates from lifting something heavy or an injury or is simply caused by sitting too much, an aching back can slow down your life, and sometimes it may just make you bedridden. Beyond living with the pain itself, back pain diminishes your quality of life with missing work, family, and social activities that you enjoy, your favourite sports, and you may not even be able to do your simple, everyday necessities.
Your low back pain might have originated from any trauma, some weight lifting, lack of regular exercise, or a sedentary lifestyle. It can start as an aching back which slows your daily routine to a bedridden condition. It can make you miss all the moments that you cherish or make you miss out on your important functions. You may not be able to play your favourite sport and spend time with your friends. So don't wait until you get backache. Adopt Ayurvedic mantra and lifestyle and prevent the condition. Start now and invest a few minutes daily in exercise, yoga, and pranayama. A healthy body and a healthy mind are what you deserve.
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