Backaches

While there are many possible choices in the homeopathic treatment of low back pain, here are some of the most common remedies:

Belladonna: For violent, acute low back pain. The pain is severe and can be burning, throbbing, shooting, or spasmodic. The intense spasms come on suddenly and leave just as quickly. Might be worse from motion or jarring, touch, taking cold, or a draft of air. The person is also worse from lying on the painful side, at 3 p.m., and after midnight, and is better sitting up.

Bryonia: The person is in extreme, even violent pain, and the pain has a stitching quality. They are worse from the slightest motion and much better from rest and hard pressure. In fact, they often lie on the painful side to maximize the amount of pressure they can apply to the area, while simultaneously minimizing motion. They are worse from warmth and better from cold air and cold applications. Although the back pain is intense, it comes on relatively slowly. The person may also have great thirst for cold drinks and may be irritable with a desire for quiet.

Kali carbonicum: A sense of exhaustion in the back, or the back may feel broken. Perhaps most important, the pains have a stitching nature and are much better from pressure, yet are worse lying on the affected side. Those symptoms may be enough to successfully prescribe this remedy. The person may also have to walk stooped over, and the low back pain may extend down the thighs. In women, back pain may occur during labor or the menstrual period. They are chilly, may develop a cold sweat on the forehead, and are worse from slight exertion. The pain is worse from cold and better from warmth; and worse from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. or 5 a.m. They are afraid of being alone and greatly desire company; however, they often treat their company poorly, even though they desire their presence.

Natrum muriaticum: The person feels as if the small of their back is broken, and they feel better lying on a hard surface or firm support. In sadness, the person dwells on past events and is often resentful or hateful toward someone that caused them grief. They cry alone because they are averse to company and consolation and, oddly, they may laugh over serious matters. They are intolerant of sun and often crave salt.

Phosphorus: The pain is often as if the back is broken, or it may be a burning pain. The person is often chilly and is anxious about their health or worries about others. They are much better when someone is sitting right there with them, giving them sympathy, and their back pain is better from rubbing/massaging. They have great thirst for ice-cold water.

Pulsatilla: The person has back pain that is worse from first motion and better from continued motion and rest. But back pain is much better from cold applications and worse from warm ones. The person tends to be warm-blooded and worse in a warm stuffy room; yet, oddly, they are thirstless with a dry mouth. The person may be timid, weep when telling their symptoms, feel lonely, and be better from consolation.

Rhus toxicodendron: For the person whose back pain comes on after overexertion, especially from lifting something too heavy. The pain is aching and the low back is stiff. It is worse from first motion, yet better from continued motion as well as better from hard pressure such as lying on something hard. The person is restless from the pain, which compels them to move constantly or to frequently change positions. The pain may come on with exposure to cold wet air, cold drafts, or before storms, and it is much worse from cold applications. Pain is better from warm applications (often as hot as possible).

Sepia: The person needing this remedy has a weak feeling in the low back, and the pain is better with hard pressure, from lying on something hard, from warmth, and, most characteristically, from vigorous exertion. Their symptoms are often worse in the late afternoon from 3 to 5 p.m. The person can be indifferent to their loved ones and desire sour or vinegary foods. They love the sun. They can also love thunderstorms and dancing, yet they are intolerant of contradiction and are very sensitive to music.