The bitter back

[Hopkins]

Back pain, in Ayurvedic perspective, is nothing but the result of a vitiation of three major humours in the body. Hence, the back pain ayurvedic treatment revolves around therapies for bringing these humours back to equilibrium. Lower back pain is known as Prishtasoola in Ayurveda and it is mainly a result of wrong posture. Poor postures will lead to a change in the normal spine curve pattern and it will create a stress on the muscles, which in turn leads to pain.

The strain not only on muscles, but also on discs may lead to lower back pain. The damage occurred to the tissues around the spine will also cause back pain and that is why people who had a fall or blow on the back suffer from this ailment at a later stage of their life.

``I fell from a tree when I was just 10 years, but I didn’t have any health problem during that time. But now, at 33, I have a back ache which is sometimes difficult to bear. My doctor attributes the reason to that `great fall’ happened 20 years before,’’ says Ansari, a teacher in Kerala``There are many obese people who approach us for back pain treatment. Overweight is surely a cause for the ailment and we advise those to take measures to reduce weight first,’’ says Krishna Das, a physician in Kerala. Lack of exercises, sedentary lifestyle etc too can result in back pain, say some experts.