Inflammation in Lower Back: The Top 7 Natural Cures

No matter the cause of your lower back pain – the pain you experience is caused by one thing:

Inflammation.

How to know what’s causing your inflammation in lower back? How to eliminate the pain without depending on pain killers for life?

In this detailed guide you’ll find all the answers: the common causes, the ultimate natural cures and how to avoid low back inflammation from coming back – ever again.

First, let’s start with lower back inflammation symptoms, and how they differ from mechanical lumbar pain:

Lower Back Inflammation vs. Mechanical (How to Know?)

Lower back inflammation is a symptom complex rather than a condition (much like Sciatica) and often indicates inflammation of the vertebrae and/or joints of the spine.

But how can you know if your lower back pain is caused by inflammation or by a mechanical problem (I know you’re not a car, but sometimes we can break down just like one…)

Inflammatory back pain (ILBP) VS Mechanical Back Pain (MLBP)

Here are the major differences (source: PubMed)

(Inflammation) ILBP                                     

• Morning back pain
• Constant pain
• Stiffness after resting
• Pain persists for more than 3 months
• The back pain and stiffness tend to ease with physical activity and exercise
• NSAIDs are effective pain relievers

Mechanical (MLBP)

• Pain when lifting
• Intermittent pain
• Pain after standing, bending forward, trunk flexion or extension
• Pain when doing sit ups, driving long distance, getting out of a chair, running
• Pain when coughing or sneezing

Lower Back Inflammation Causes

Unfortunately, there could be dozens of reasons for inflammation in lower back:

• Ankylosing spondylitis (a form of spinal arthritis)
• Sacroiliitis (Inflammation of sacroiliac joints)
• Inflammatory arthritis
• Psoriatic arthritis
• Muscle sprain
• Ligament sprain
• Pulled lower back muscle
• Low back sciatica
• Low back bulging/herniated disc

But, for practical purposes, it doesn’t really matter why your lower back is inflamed.

When it comes to natural medicine, the body is treated as a whole and inflammation is inflammation, no matter where it’s located and what causes it.

Natural inflammation-busting methods can be very effective and you can eliminate your lower back pain at home, by yourself, without depending on pills and without any medical bills.

The Best Lower Back Inflammation Home Treatment

The first step in treating lumbar inflammation is natural pain relief. As long as you’re in pain, it’s very hard to be motivated to do anything else, if at all.

I hope you already know that taking NSAIDs is no solution.

Even if they temporarily relieve your pain, they won’t actually cure the inflammation and the huge price you liver and kidneys will pay for it is not worth it.

Science has already proven that some foods and herbs are just as effective pain relievers as the common pain killers, without any side effects and risks.

Let’s start with the ultimate anti-inflammation foods & herbs:

Best Superfoods & Herbs for Back Pain

 1. Turmeric

The #1 food for lower back inflammation pain is – by far – Turmeric. It can actually replace your NSAIDs all together, and is fully backed by thousands of studies.

You can take Turmeric in standardized capsules (this is the best one) or you can easily add it to your meals.

If you want it to be fully potent, add just a little black pepper and a healthy fat (such as olive oil, coconut oil) to make it most bio available.

If you don’t like the taste of Turmeric, you can add it to your green smoothie (along with the black pepper and olive oil).

If you add a banana in there, or a single date, you won’t feel the taste at all.

Always use organic Turmeric (either the fresh root or powder) to avoid nasty chemicals.

2. Ginger

Not only is ginger a culinary marvel, its health benefits are stunning.

Ginger has some extremely potent anti-inflammation compounds, called gingerols.

There are many studies proving how effective ginger can be in the fight against inflammation, when consumed regularly.

Studies have found that Ginger has the ability to inhibit nitrous oxide (free radical causing inflammation) and is helpful for all general inflammatory processes.

The best way to use Ginger would be adding it fresh to your meals or your green smoothies (I do, every day for more than a year). You can find fresh organic ginger root powder here.

3. Fish Oil

Fish oil can effectively ease inflammation and pain caused by many chronic conditions. The dose used in most convincing research is 2 to 4 grams of DHA + EPA daily.

The omega-3 fatty acids, the active anti-inflammation ingredients, are available from other sources too, such as Chia Seeds, but the fish oil has the best evidence so far.

Make sure to get fish oil from organic-raised fish, without additives and clean from heavy metals and toxins, like this one.

Turmeric and Ginger are not the only amazing anti-inflammation foods and herbs. Here are a few more of the most potent ones:

1. Proteolytic enzymes

2. Bromelain (found in pineapples)

3. Papain

4. Devil’s Claw

5. Boswelia

6. Rutin

7. L-Glutathione

You can find all of these, plus the Ginger and the Turmeric in one highly recommended all natural supplement called Heal-n-Soothe.

Best Vitamins and Minerals for Low Back Inflammation

When it comes to inflammation control, these are the 2 most important vitamins and minerals.

It’s been proven if you lack one or both of these, your chances or suffering from chronic inflammation are almost double.

1. Vitamin D

A number of studies have linked low levels of vitamin D with increased levels of chronic pain.

One 2009 study looked at the vitamin D levels of people with chronic pain who were using opioid painkillers.

Those who had a deficiency of vitamin D needed almost twice as high a dose of medication to control their pain.

Make sure you get the natural form of Vitamin D, which is Vitamin D3.

2. Magnesium

Magnesium deficiency is becoming a widespread problem around the world. Vegetables contain less and less Magnesium each year and it’s very easy to become Magnesium deficient.

From personal experience I can tell you that using Magnesium oil has worked wonders for me and family with any kind of muscle pain and even restless leg syndrome.

The most absorbed type of Magnesium is called Transdermal magnesium, which gets in your body through your skin and is better absorbed than oral Magnesium supplements.

The best Transdermal supplement I know is this one (you simply rub it on your back and wash off later) you can read all about Magnesium oil benefits in this post.

Acupressure for Lower Back Pain

It sounds too easy to be true, but this amazingly simple technique is a powerful tool for lower back pain relief, sometimes instantly.

Acupressure, which can be done on your own at the comfort of your home, increases the production of endorphins, the body’s natural pain relievers.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Place your fingertip between your nose and upper lip.

2. Apply deep pressure and hold this pressure for several seconds, then release. Repeat 5-10 times.

3. Next, place your finger tip between your inner ankle bone and Achilles tendon.

4. Apply deep pressure, hold for several seconds, then release. Repeat 5-10 times.

5. Finally, make a fist. On the outside of your hand near the pinkie finger locate the spot where the skin folds and bulges, and press there (same as above). (Source)

Stress & Lumbar Inflammation

Stress has a destructive effect on your health, and can aggravate and worsen back inflammation and other health condition you may have.

Did you know that just thinking and dwelling about past mistakes can increase the inflammation levels in your body? (Here’s the study).

You can’t ignore stress management if you truly want to eliminate lumbar inflammation.

Meditation, walking in nature, proper sleep and daily exercise are the best tools against stress.

When I feel stressed, I take out my best friend –my far infrared heating pad, and lie on it peacefully for 40 minutes, sweating out toxins and boosting my blood circulation all over my body – without moving a muscle.

It’s the best tip I can give you on how to deal with stress and inflammation. Nothing works better for me.

Here’s more about the astounding benefits of infrared light therapy

Conclusion

There are literally dozens of natural and effective methods to reduce and even put an end to your lower back inflammation.

We’ve covered superfoods (Turmeric, Ginger), vitamins and minerals (Vitamin D, Transdermal Magnesium), acupressure points for fast pain relief and stress management through infrared light therapy.

If you have any other tips and advice about this, please share them with us in the comments below, I’d love to learn new things!

To your health and happiness,

 Meital