Coping with Pain at School

Coping with Pain at School

This content was medically reviewed by Baher S. Yanni, MD, on August 17th, 2016.

Whether your back pain came on slowly or suddenly, the Spine INA is ready to be your answer. We offer revolutionary, minimally-invasive spine surgery that delivers huge relief and small recovery time. However, depending on what back issue you’re working through, it can take a while to fully defeat it. For many people, this is the main struggle. In our last blog, we talked about going back to college while still suffering from back pain. All too often, college students get caught in a vicious cycle of stress, pain, and exhaustion that undermines their ability to reach their potential. We have good news, though: there are some great things you can do to make life easy on your back – and you!

In our last blog, we talked about keeping your classes as close together as possible, both in time and physical distance. We also discussed alternatives to towing heavy textbooks around with you. Today, we want to talk about how to manage your back during the semester.

Be Proactive

• You probably know what things make your back feel better or worse. If you know you’re headed toward a trigger, take the time to consider alternatives. Advocate for yourself and be willing to say “no.” Don’t let your semester become layer on layer of pain and stress. It all builds up and can impede your success.

Stay Active

• We understand that this mandate can be maddening if you have back pain. How are you supposed to stay active when moving hurts? The unfortunate truth is, the more sedentary you are, the worse your pain will be. You have to stay active. The key is finding activities that are gentle enough for your back. Nothing beats a short walk, and it will do more for your back than you know.

Examine Your Medications

• Unfortunately, many pain medications have a real impact on how your brain takes in information. This can put you in a difficult position – you need to learn, but you need pain relief, too. Strive to find a balance and always make sure you are managing your pain right.

Though life with back pain is difficult, there are answers. Turn to the Spine INA for relief!