If you have pain in your lower right side of your back, you are in good company – at least 80% of adults get back pain at some point in their lives. The pain can be either acute or chronic. Acute back pain lasts from a few days to a few weeks, and seldom longer than that. It is responsive to rest and exercise, and the cause of the pain is not easily identifiable. Chronic back pain, however, lasts from a few months onward. The pain is constant, with periodic flares where the pain is worse. It then settles back to the earlier, less intense, level of pain.

How To Ease The Pain In The Lower Right Side Of Your Back

There are several things that can ease the pain in the lower right side of your back. First of all, rest. For a long time, the myth has been that bed rest was the answer to get rid of back pain. Sufferers would immediately go to bed, but the pain didn’t really go away anyhow. They would lay in one position for hours as it hurt too much to shift around. The pain the lower right side of their back was not relieved, even if they lay on their left side, or flat on their back.

Now, doctors have discovered that bed rest can be helpful for a day, or two at most. Beyond that, it will slow recovery, as the muscles are too likely to wither and loose strength. When the back, stomach, and leg muscles are weak, the body is more prone to muscle strains and sports injuries.

Heat therapy is often recommended for back pain. For some, using moist heat is best, such as a hot bath or spa. For others, they find that ice (cold therapy) feels better. Either is fine, so experiment with the pain in the lower right side of your back and see which works best in your case.

Beyond heat (or cold) therapy and rest, stretching and strengthening exercises can help immensely – both to relieve the pain now and to help the body avoid pain in the future. Start off gently, with stretching the muscles of the back, stomach, and legs. Once they are a bit warmed up, do some strengthening exercises so that they are better able to handle the everyday activities you like to do.

If you need to, take medications. Acetaminophen or anti-inflammatory drugs can help a lot with the pain and inflammation. If they aren’t sufficient to alleviate the pain in your lower right side of your back, there are prescription drugs available, such as muscle relaxants, narcotics, and injections of corticosteroids. If your pain is bad enough to warrant these, a visit to your primary care physician is called for.