Home remedies, such as exercise, stretching, and a healthy diet, can work wonders for your low back pain. If you or anyone you love is living with low back pain, try these lifestyle changes to reclaim a pain-free life.
Highlights
- Eat a healthy diet (whole grains, fruits, vegetables, healthy fats).
- Exercise often (150 minutes a week).
- Sleep like a baby (8 hours a day).
- Breathe deeply.
- Stretch at least two minutes daily.
Low back pain is common, affecting 25% of Nepalese adults. It occurs when you have pain and stiffness in the region of the back extending from the bottom of the ribcage to the buttocks.
While no cause can be traced in about 90% of the cases, possible causes can include:
- Muscle sprains or strains
- Pregnancy
- Herniated discs
- Osteoarthritis
- Kidney stones
- Fibromyalgia
- Fractures due to brittle bones (osteoporosis)
When you walk, stand, or sit, the back muscles and spine support your weight. Having low back pain can affect these activities. Over-the-counter pain medications often help those with short-term pain. However, when pain lingers, you may need professional help.
The following home remedies are expected to help relieve pain if you have mild symptoms and no serious underlying causes.
- Exercise
Exercise is an intentional physical activity. Any activity is better than none, regardless of whether you’ve back pain or not.
Several studies suggest short walks, aerobics, swimming, yoga, and other low-impact activities can help improve pain. When choosing an exercise routine, make sure to choose one that you can stick to. When it comes to exercise, no amount of motivation beats consistency!
Besides, exercise can help you lose excess weight, leading to a decreased load on your back and spine.
According to a large 2021 review, exercise may improve pain and the ability to perform daily tasks. Exercises shown to benefit low back pain included: (1)
- General fitness programs conducted in groups
- Walking
- Strengthening exercises to increase core stability
Guidelines across the globe recommend at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity every week. (2,3,4). Besides, adults should do some strength training at least 2 days a week.
- Stretching
Stretching is a great way to loosen up your back muscles. Muscle relaxation can help alleviate pain and improve other symptoms of low back pain, such as stiffness.
The authors of a 2020 study recommend two minutes of stretching that includes your hips and glutes. (5) Back-strengthening stretches can include:
- Knee-to-chest stretch
- Lower back rotational stretch
- Lower back flexibility exercise
- Cat stretch
- Seated lower back rotational stretch
The details of each stretch with images can be found HERE.
- Diet
It might sound like a cliche but you’re what you eat.
Diet can work to relieve pain in two ways. First, it helps reduce inflammation (swelling). Second, it enables you to lose excess weight, a well-established risk factor for low back pain.
In women with fibromyalgia who have back pain, a combination of core stabilization exercise and a lacto-vegetarian diet has been shown to reduce pain. (6)
While there’re no specific dietary guidelines for people with low back pain, experts recommend the following diets to improve pain and facilitate weight loss: (7)
Mediterranean diet
Plant-based foods and healthy fats form the core of the Mediterranean diet. The fundamentals of the Mediterranean diet are:
- Plenty of vegetables, fruits, beans, and nuts
- Whole grains, like whole-wheat bread and brown rice
- Lots of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), which provides healthy fats
- Omega-3-rich fish
- A moderate quantity of yogurt
- Little or no red meat (replace red meats with chicken and fish
- Little or no sugar
Low glycemic (low GI) diet
This diet plan includes foods that cause a slow and small increase in blood sugar levels. Foods in the low GI diet can include:
- Whole wheat breads
- Fruits like apples, strawberries, apricots, peaches, kiwi, tomatoes
- Vegetables like carrots
- Starchy vegetables like sweet potatoes and yams
- Legumes like lentils, chickpeas, kidney beans
- Basmati, long-grain, or brown rice
- Milk, cheese, yogurt, coconut milk
- Fish, chicken, pork, lamb, and eggs
- Nuts (almonds, cashews, pistachios, walnuts)
- Olive oil, butter, avocado
- Non-starchy vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower
- Sleep
Pain disturbs sleep, and getting too little sleep can make you more sensitive to pain.
Adults should get about 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep each night.
According to a recent article in the journal Sleep Medicine Reviews, people who get little sleep tend to feel pain more intensely. (8)
Fortunately, sleep is a modifiable factor, which means you can change it. Try the following tips to sleep like a baby, once again:
- A dark, quiet, and cool room and a comfortable bed
- Use a supportive pillow
- Take deep breaths
- Minimize exposure to bright light (mobile screen) and vigorous activities (such as exercise) near bedtime
- Get 10-15 minutes of sunlight exposure after you wake up
- Avoid stimulants like coffee after 3 pm
- Stress management
Long-term low back pain can lead to increased stress levels. Likewise, increased stress may make your pain more intense.
So, what can you do? There’re ways to break this vicious cycle. Some of them include:
Belly or abdominal breathing
Belly breathing is a deep breathing technique.
How to do
- Sit comfortably in a chair with your back straight.
- Relax your shoulders, head, and neck
- Keep the knees bent.
- Place one hand on the upper chest and the other on the stomach, just below the rib cage.
- Inhale slowly through your nose. The stomach should move out but the chest shouldn’t.
- Exhale slowly (preferably through the mouth) so that the stomach moves in but the upper chest doesn’t move.
Pro-tip: Start with a 5-minute breathing session, and slowly work up to 20 minutes a day.
Square breathing
Synonym: box breathing
This is another deep breathing technique with incredible health benefits.
How to do
- Sit upright. Slowly exhale all oxygen from the lungs.
Then,
- Inhale slowly through the nose for 4 seconds.
- Hold your breath for 4 seconds.
- Exhale slowly for 4 seconds.
- Hold your breath for 4 seconds.
That’s one cycle. You may do several cycles, depending on your ability. The basic idea is to inhale, exhale, and hold breath for the same duration. You may change the duration to 3 seconds or 5 seconds, or even longer.
When to Seek Professional Help for Low Back Pain
Call your healthcare provider immediately if you experience:
- Severe or constant pain
- Weakness or tingling in one or both legs
- Fever
- New bowel or bladder problems
References:
- Hayden, Jill A et al. “Exercise therapy for chronic low back pain.” The Cochrane database of systematic reviews vol. 9,9 CD009790. 28 Sep. 2021, doi:10.1002/14651858.CD009790.pub2
- American Heart Association. “American Heart Association Recommendations for Physical Activity in Adults and Kids.” American Heart Association, 2024, www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/fitness/fitness-basics/aha-recs-for-physical-activity-in-adults.
- “Adult Activity: An Overview.” Physical Activity Basics, 20 Dec. 2023, www.cdc.gov/physical-activity-basics/guidelines/adults.html.
- Website, Nhs. “Physical Activity Guidelines for Adults Aged 19 to 64.” nhs.uk, 26 Feb. 2025, www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/physical-activity-guidelines-for-adults-aged-19-to-64.
- Shariat, Ardalan et al. “Home-based fundamental approach to alleviate low back pain using myofascial release, stretching, and spinal musculature strengthening during the COVID-19 pandemic.” Work (Reading, Mass.) vol. 67,1 (2020): 11-19. doi:10.3233/WOR-203248
- Martínez-Rodríguez, Alejandro et al. “Efectos de la dieta lacto-vegetariana y ejercicios de estabilización del core sobre la composición corporal y el dolor en mujeres con fibromialgia: ensayo controlado aleatorizado” [Effects of lacto-vegetarian diet and stabilization core exercises on body composition and pain in women with fibromyalgia: randomized controlled trial]. Nutricion hospitalaria vol. 35,2 392-399. 1 Mar. 2018, doi:10.20960/nh.1341
- Altug, Ziya. “Lifestyle Medicine for Chronic Lower Back Pain: An Evidence-Based Approach.” American journal of lifestyle medicine vol. 15,4 425-433. 21 Jul. 2021, doi:10.1177/1559827620971547
- Chang, Jeremy R et al. “The differential effects of sleep deprivation on pain perception in individuals with or without chronic pain: A systematic review and meta-analysis.” Sleep medicine reviews vol. 66 (2022): 101695. doi:10.1016/j.smrv.2022.101695
