Nothing is certain in this living world – except taxes and lower back pain. Dread them, run for them, and they both arrive all the same.
At the least tax burden may be reduced with the right maneuvers. But lower back pain can irritate like a stone in the shoe that cannot be taken out, only more painful.
RICE therapy, stretching & strengthening, posture correction, and OTC pain relief medications a lot goes into managing lower back pain. While they all take time and effort, they may or may not provide complete pain relief.
So the search for a simple and efficient way to manage, treat or prevent lower back pain has always been on. Going the wave right now, supplements seem to be the right fit for this problem.
Supplements are actively being suggested by orthopedic doctors and back pain specialists. ‘Supplements for lower back pain’ has become one of the most searched keywords in the lower back pain category. And the market is flooded with hundreds of multivitamin supplements for lower back pain.
But are supplements effective in treating or managing lower back pain? If yes, what supplements can do the job and what is the best way to access them? Let us go dive in and find the answers:
What causes lower back pain?
There are umpteen causes of lower back pain but all of them can be categorized into three simple buckets:
- Mechanical issues: Abnormal movement of spinal elements which include muscles, ligaments, tendons, intervertebral discs and facet joints.
- Soft tissue injuries: Injuries that can happen due to physical trauma or injury.
- Medical conditions: Arthritis, spinal and kidney infection, female reproductive problems and more.
The treatment for lower back pain and the role of supplements in their treatment is beyond the scope of this article. We suggest you consult a doctor for the right treatment option as soon as possible.
Having said that, the most common lower back pain is the type that sets in for no apparent reason or combination of the above reasons and then linger-in for weeks.
So what are the suggested supplements that help lower back pain?
As we enter our 30s we lose our bone mass every day. And with the hours of physical inactivity and poor diet, we end up inviting lower back pain.
So suggested supplements for lower back pain tend to include vitamins and minerals that improve bone mass and create the right environment for healing. Some of the most common vitamins and minerals in lower back pain supplements include:
- Calcium: Calcium is the building block of bones that compensates for bone loss after age 30.
- Vitamin D & K: Without Vitamin K & D, the body loses its ability to absorb Calcium to make bones.
- Magnesium: Supports nerves and muscle function and enables healing of musculoskeletal problems.
- Vitamin E: Prevents the inflammation induced by free radicals and relieves lower back pain.
- B-Complex Vitamins: Heals the inflamed nerves in lower back pain and strengthens the nervous system to reduce the symptoms of lower back pain.
- Vitamin C: Increases calcium absorption and supports the healing of injured or broken bones.
A whole lot of different supplements come up in google searches when we looked up the best supplements for lower back pain. But the above six are the most common vitamins and minerals in all these supplements.
Now to the crux of our discussion: How effective are multivitamin supplements in treating lower back pain? What does the research say?
Supplements for lower back pain: What does the research say?
Multiple types of research were performed to evaluate the efficiency of the multivitamin supplements for lower back pain and the result was positive.
- Given Vitamin D deficiency is the most commonly observed deficiency in patients with lower back pain (90%), a study was performed to evaluate its benefits. And according to this study (see here), Vitamin D supplementation was also found to improve back pain symptoms.
- According to this study here, Vitamin C, D, E and Zinc supplementations were found to be effective in the treatment of chronic low back pain.
- Vitamin B Complex, according to another study here has also demonstrated beneficial effects when used as a part of mobility and pain management program in patients with lower back pain.
- In another extensive study performed here, Vitamin D & Calcium supplementation significantly reduced chronic non-specific musculoskeletal pain.
No wonder orthopedic surgeons and specialists also recommend multivitamin supplements as a part of lower back pain treatment – they do help improve the symptoms and provide lower back pain relief.
So to answer the question – Do vitamin supplements help with lower back pain?
Yes, according to the above research, the right vitamin supplements can help ease non-specific lower back pain.
But how to find the best multivitamin supplements for lower back pain?
We can provide a few pointers for you to choose the best supplements for lower back pain. Right multivitamin supplements for lower-back pain must be loaded with all the above vitamins and minerals with adequate RDA. Needless to say, the right supplements for lower-back pain must be FDA approved and expertly formulated with clean ingredients.
And more importantly, given their essential nature, they must be affordable and provide bang for buck nutrition that you can comfortably use for a long time. In short find supplements like Ridomaxx that tick all the above boxes: https://ridomaxx.com/
References:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30201225/
https://www.peertechzpublications.com/articles/OJPM-5-124.php
