The onset of back pain can occur simply by putting your back or spine at an odd angle. Ever since mankind has been walking upright, odd angles, and back pain have been around. So, it goes that back pain has been around forever and is definitely not a symptom of our modern culture.

Long before anything that anything Western civilization came up with for back pain, there have been various treatments set forth by many different civilizations and cultures.

Since most of these treatments fall outside the discipline of the AMA (American Medical Association), they are considered as alternative treatments or alternative medicine; even though they have been around and used for the treatment of back pain for centuries.

Acupuncture has been practiced for over 5,000 years now and although is becoming more mainstream; it is still considered one of the alternative medicines.

Acupressure is closely related to acupuncture but without the needles. The idea of acupressure is to put pressure on specific points in the body, using only hands and fingers to restore the balance of Qi and thus relieve pain.

Herbs have been used to relieve pain for thousands of years. Today's pain-relieving medications are mostly synthetic reproductions of these long-used and natural herbs. The main difference is that the synthetic reproductions often produce a lot of side effects, but the natural herbs they are based upon do not.

Chiropractors have been manipulating spines for many years. Hippocrates said, "Get knowledge of the spine, for this is the requisite for many diseases."

Chiropractic medicine as we recognize it today wasn't actually established until 1895. The AMA was established in 1847, so they do have a jump on chiropractors as such.

If you suffer from back pain, then you know there is no other functional pain that simply effects every movement you attempt to make with your body.

When your back hurts, you want relief. If you've not had success with traditional drugs and treatments, you may want to consider some of the alternative treatments. Especially if you may be considering some type of invasive surgery. Discuss some of these options with your healthcare provider to see if any may be right for you.