Whether you work with your hands or sit behind a desk all day, modern living creates serious back pain for a huge number of people. Something as simple as sitting in a chair with poor back support in work or at home can seriously damage your back and cause chronic pain that never seems to go away. So how can you take control of this problem once and for all?

The first step you need to take is getting a chair that offers your back appropriate support or using a cushion that restores the natural S-curve to your back. Try not to sit for extended periods. Instead, get up and walk around or stretch every 20 to 30 minutes. Do not sit hunched over your desk or slouched on the sofa. These simple new habits can take the pressure off your spinal column and significantly reduce pain.

Pain killers and anti-inflammatory medication can temporarily mask back pain for some people but it is not the long term answer to chronic back pain. Yoga is a wonderful way of stretching your body and taking pressure off the nerves in your back. Doing simple Yoga exercises once or twice per day can significantly reduce the intensity of your pain. If Yoga is not for you, then consider doing simple exercises recommended by New Zealand Physiotherapist, Robin McKenzie. He recommends about half a dozen easy exercises that almost anyone can do at home, which effectively move the shape of your back from a C-curve back to an S-Curve. Check him out on the internet.

Many alternative therapies are becoming popular, particularly because of a growing aversion by some to popping pills. Chiropractic works for certain people as the therapist manipulates tissue and bone, in the course of a series of treatments, to reduce or eradicate pressure on the nerves causing you pain. Rolfing offers deep tissue massage that effectively changes your entire posture so that there is proper structural integration in your muscular skeletal system.

Acupuncture claims to bring your body back to its natural state of balance through the removal of blockages in your meridians or energy channels and thus allows energy to flow freely throughout your body. It also encourages your body to release endorphins into your blood stream, which acts as a natural pain killer. A modern version of this, Electro-Acupuncture, facilitates the re-balance of your energy channels while sitting at home, without the need to engage a therapist. The net effect is a significant reduction or eradication of pain for most people.

There is no exact answer that will address everyone's back pain problems. It is really down to experimentation with the various treatments on offer and settling on the ones that work best for you as an individual. I certainly favour treatments that you can do at home, such as the exercises and electro-acupuncture, because they give you personal control over your pain and do not involve frequent and expensive treatments by physicians and therapists.