When the disc herniates, or slips out, the lubrication inside the disc capsule can leak onto the spinal nerves.  The nerves then get irritated, then they cause the muscles to get tight or to spasm.

You can have a disc herniation and not feel pain.  You can also have pain, but no disc herniation.  Many people have disc degeneration and do not even know it.

  You can see in this image how the disc has slipped out and is pressing on the yellow nerve.  Slipped discs can be so bad that the normal nerve flow to the limbs is cut off and you have a problem walking.  In my experience, slipped discs can be one of the most painful things you can suffer.


If you have one disc slip, the chances are your other discs are not healthy either.  I usually recommend glucosamine sulfate taken over a few months to help repair the connective tissue in the body.  It is not uncommon for other joints to have problems also, if your connective tissue in your back is not healthy.

Be sure to get glucosamine SULFATE, not HCL.  This is derived from shellfish and is the type that has been well researched.  If you buy a combination formula, I do not suggest including fish oil.  Fish oil is also a natural anti-inflammatory, but it is usually rancid.  Once the oil is rancid, it can damage your body.  Put into a formula with other supplements, it is more likely to go rancid.


Here is a picture of different disc problems:

You can see that if you have one disc with a problem, you can easily have problems with other discs. That is why systemic treatments are so important.

What I do is gentle stretches.  You can lie in bed, put your leg on the opposite side of your body.  You can feel the tightness in your lower back muscles.  If you just hold it like that for a while, it will gently stretch out your lower back muscles.

I don’t like hard exercise with back pain because it can irritate the nerves in the back.  Just gentle, regular stretching can be extremely effective to relieve back problems.

There are some easy stretches you can do in bed before you get up:

I have found that going up and down stairs is also very good to stretch out the back muscles.  Walking in place, pulling your legs up as high as you can, will stretch your whole back out.

  — This is my personal favorite.  You can do this in bed.  You just put your leg on the other side and lie there a few minutes.  You will feel your back stretch out.  I do this almost daily and it has made a big difference.

  I would not just exercise, I would stay in that position for a minute and gently let your muscles stretch out.

If you can do this one, I pronounce you healed:

Please do not discount how important regular stretching is to relieve and prevent pain.  You will be very surprised how effective it can be.

For relief immediately:

• Bromelain- most stores carries this in their “natural” section. The kind I recommend on this site is stronger, but you can just take more of the weaker brands
• Pain Relief patches can be bought at many drug stores and even Wal Mart carries Tiger Balm patches.  This is one of the most popular remedies in China to treat pain anywhere.  The herbs are infused into the local area to relieve pain very quickly.
• Stretching is a little known way to relieve pain.  You will need to be gentle with yourself.  When muscles are tight, they put pressure on the nerves and discs in the back.  If you can stretch out your back daily, you will find your back starts to hurt less over time.  The muscles relax and stop putting stress on your joints.
• Glucosamine Sulfate is very important to heal the disc.  Many people have disc degeneration and do not know it until one day the disc slips and the pain is unbearable.  You can take glucosamine to rebuild the disc.  It is also a natural anti-inflammatory.
• Boswellin and willow bark are powerful natural pain relievers.  One of the best products I have found is Willow Aid .  This product is formulated by an herbalist.  He makes the best herbal formulas I have found that are sold over the counter.  These are natural anti-inflammatories and pain relievers.  Willow bark is used to make aspirin.

I recently had a bad leg injury. I try to focus on the positive and say that I always learn how to treat things by suffering from them myself. I fell down and had huge bruises on my leg and this blocked the circulation to my foot, which swelled like crazy. I tried a variety of herbs and enzymes to treat this and found the best remedies.

I always depend on enzymes to treat pain.  They work fast and work with your body to heal the damaged tissue.  They can also be taken long term, so I feel safe recommending them.  Bromelain is often a quick fix.  If that is not enough, you can take other systemic oral enzymes such as natto or serrapeptase.
I use bromelain for everyday pains, but for bruises and a lot of pain that does not respond to bromelain, I use that enzyme formula.  It is the strongest pain relieving enzyme formula on the market.  It includes enzymes that dissolve blood clots.  That is why it helps to resolve bruises faster.  Each enzyme has a function, nattokinase is used to dissolve and prevent blood clots.


I have also used this formula for neck pain that would not respond to anything else.  It is more expensive than bromelain, but it has bromelain in it and other enzymes like nattokinase and serrapeptase.  It is actually not expensive when you consider the ingredients.  If you are taking enzymes to keep your blood flowing better, I think you will find this formula includes the same dosage as your nattokinase formula, plus all the other enzymes for the same price.

Here are the products I use to relieve pain, all in one place:


This is not specifically for pain, but it is something I recommend for everyone:

Glucosamine sulfate has been used for years to heal re-build connective tissue.  The problem with glucosamine is that many people buy the wrong type.  There are glucosamine HCL and Glucosamine sulfate.  The glucosamine HCL is not effective for many people.  The kind to buy is the glucosamine sulfate.

Glucosamine sulfate is derived from shellfish.  If you have a shellfish allergy, please consult your doctor before taking this.

The glucosamine is used by your body as a building material to re-build damaged connective (joint) tissue.  When you have joint damage, often the part that cushions the joint is worn down or inflamed.  Glucosamine is a natural anti-inflammatory.


When I take a good quality glucosamine, I usually feel the results within a few hours.  Not everyone feels the instant relief.  Even if you do not feel fast relief, that does not mean it is not working.  If your connective tissue has been really damaged, it can take some time to heal it.

Glucosamine is often taken with chondroitin sulfate or MSM.  These are also natural anti-inflammatory supplements.  Some people find the chondroitin and/or MSM to be helpful, others do not.  Everyone is different.

MSM is a type of sulfur that your body can use to repair damaged tissue.  Some people use this for arthritis relief.  It is also used as a topical pain relief product.  I personally tried that, but had no success.  For topical pain relief, I recommend Boswellin creams or pain patches.

Please be sure to read the label of the glucosamine you buy.  It is often not on the front of the container, it is in the ingredient list.

A common problem is having weak back muscles that make the pressure on the spinal discs too strong.  If you have weak muscles, the pressure can be too much on the disc and it can bulge out or prolapse.

Stretching is very important for upper back pain.  If you sit at your desk all day and do not move, the muscles can freeze up.  Once they get too tight, they put pressure on the nerves coming from the spine.


If the muscles are very tight, they can actually cause nerve dysfunction that can affect your arms and hands.  It is not uncommon for carpal tunnel to be caused by a nerve compression in the shoulders or upper back.

When you block  the normal blood flow to the nerves by having tight muscles, the nerves can be damaged.  You are, in essence, starving your nerves and other tissue of blood flow that keeps it alive.  If you stretch and take all your supplements such as magnesium, it will make it less likely you will have nerve compression.

     Stretching like this throughout the day can be very helpful to relieve tightness and pain.

One really common cause of upper back pain is this:

  Is this how you sit all day?  Perhaps not that bad, but perhaps not too well either.

We all tend to slouch over a bit too much at the computer.  It is easy to not get up and move like you need to.  You might have a tyrant boss who wants you to sit at your desk all day.


If your upper back pain is caused by a bulging disc, often you can feel a burning sensation close to the spine.  This is caused by the liquid that normally cushions the disc being leaked out and irritating your spinal nerve.  Once the spinal nerve gets irritated by this fluid, or the bulging disc pressing on it, it can make your whole back go into spasms.

Once your muscles are in a spasm, it can be hard to calm them down.  You have to address the underlying inflammation that is going on at the spine.   That is, address the disc problem with Bromelain and glucosamine.  This will help to start to relieve the pain and inflammation.  If you can get acupuncture, that is great to stop muscle spasms.  You can often feel relief within an hour.

If you cannot get acupuncture, you can put herbal patches on your upper back.  You can either use patches with herbs or menthol, or use the heat wraps.  You can also try a heating pad to calm the muscles down.

You must treat the inflammation at the spine to stop the irritation of the nerve.  Once the disc has been damaged, it can leak fluid for a while and the body has to be able to clean up all that extra fluid and tissue damage.  It does that with enzymes.  Your body makes its own enzymes to heal itself and digest your food.  It needs extra enzymes to treat inflammation.

Your body uses calcium and magnesium to relax and contract muscles.  Calcium is used to contract muscles and magnesium to relax them.  Unfortunately, by most estimates 70 to 80% of Americans are deficient in magnesium.

When you are magnesium deficient, your muscles cannot relax very well.  You can have leg cramps as well as just about any other muscle pain from a magnesium deficiency.

We do not get enough magnesium from our food and we do things such as drinking soft drinks, which depletes calcium and magnesium from our bodies.  Most soft drinks have phosphoric acid in them.  Your body has to buffer this acid in your blood by using minerals.


If you do not have enough minerals, your body will pull minerals from your bones.  If you drink soft drinks, you can take good quality mineral supplements to replace the minerals you lose.  Otherwise, you could end up with bone loss.

I have found a great article about what magnesium does in your body and how it relieves pain.   http://www.purelabvitamins.com/role-of-magnesium.php

There are several types of magnesium that are available in supplements.  There are magnesium citrate, malate and carbonate and glycinate.  It is commonly believed that magnesium citrate is the best absorbed type.  I have used all of these types of magnesium over the years with minimal results.  I’m always experimenting with new supplements to see if they are good.

I finally found a magnesium that was very effective.  After just a month I could tell a huge difference.  That is magnesium glycinate.  This is a type of magnesium that is “chelated” with glycine, which is an amino acid.

Minerals are always better chelated, that is bound to amino acids for better absorption, however magnesium glycinate seems to be far better absorbed than even chelated magnesium citrate.


On the topic of calcium, please do not take calcium by itself.  Your body needs magnesium to absorb calcium and if you take calcium on its own, it can cause calcium deposits in your body.  It is OK, and in fact good, to take magnesium alone.  You need more magnesium than calcium.

Amazon carries two types of chelated magnesium glycinate.  The kind with the doctors label is combined with amino acids and it smells weird.  I think it is the proline, but I’m not sure.  I just know I don’t want to take it.  The Brand below does not have an odor.

Click here for: Solgar Chelated Magnesium - This is an Amazon link to magnesium glycinate.  It is the best I have found.  It is also not easy to find this in stores.

Please be sure to take Chelated magnesium glycinate. There are other kinds of chelated magnesium that are not as effective, in my experience. I have tried many types of magnesium over the last 15 years. It is worth it to take the best quality magnesium, so you actually absorb what you take.

80% of Americans are deficient in magnesium.  In my opinion, it is one of the most important things you can do for your health.

Common problems from magnesium deficiency:

• Heart Arrhythmia
• PMS and cramps
• Leg cramps – at night and during the day
• Migraines
• Tight muscles

After my personal experience with magnesium, I insist my migraine patients take magnesium.  If you do not have the magnesium to relax your muscles, it will take a lot longer to heal.  It is important to give your body what it needs to function normally.

Bromelain is an enzyme that is derived from pineapples.  Your body makes its own enzymes to digest food as well as do cellular repair.  When you get older, your body does not make as many enzymes.  Since you have fewer enzymes for cellular repair, you are more likely to have aches and pains for no apparent reason.

Bromelain, when taken on an empty stomach, or with a small amount of food, will go into your bloodstream and help to clear damaged tissue and relieve inflammation.  It is a very inexpensive remedy.  Often one pill of 2,000 GDU is enough to get rid of many ailments.  That costs about 10 to 15 cents.

When buying bromelain, you will want to check the label and be sure that you are getting a stronger version.  Enzymes are not measured in milligrams.  They are measured in units.  You can have the same amount of milligrams and have a higher amount of strength.  Common measurements are 600 GDU and 2,000 GDU.  I prefer to take the stronger amount so I take fewer pills.


I like to combine different types of natural remedies for the best results.  Bromelain usually gives fast results, while glucosamine sulfate takes longer, but can regenerate the joints.

An easy explanation for how enzymes work is that when you take them on an empty stomach, they go into your blood stream and clean up waste material that your body did not have enough of its own enzymes to handle.  It might help to see it is Pac Man.

The pineapple that is in cans has been cooked and the enzymes are all dead.  If you want to juice pineapples, there is a lot of bromelain in the core of the pineapple.

If you do juice pineapples, be aware that they will dissolve the inside of your mouth.  The bromelain is active in your mouth.  If you eat a lot of fresh pineapple, you might think you are allergic to it, when it is just dissolving the inside of your mouth.  That is how strong it is.  I prefer pills.


If strong bromelain is not strong enough to treat your pain by itself, there are other enzymes that treat inflammation.  Systemic enzymes such as bromelain can be combined with other protein dissolving enzymes to treat pain anywhere in the body.

A strong enzyme is serrapeptase.  It is the same type of enzyme used by silkworms to dissolve their shell, so it is very strong to dissolve scars and damaged tissue.

I have found enzymes to be one of the most effective things to do to relieve pain.  Since they are used by your body to digest your food and for cellular repair, they are effective and safe for most people.  If you are on blood thinners, like Coumadin or Plavix, please be aware that enzymes will thin your blood and you should not take them without speaking to your doctor.

Inversion tables are a way to relieve pressure on the discs in your back.  The theory is that when you stand or sit upright all day, you are putting pressure on the discs in your back and if you use an inversion table, the pressure is taken off the discs to give them a chance to heal.

Since back pain can be caused by either muscle tightness, muscles spasms, disc problems, or a combination of those things, the only way you will know if this will help you is if you rule out muscle tightness first.  If your muscles are tight, no inversion table will help you, because that is not the cause of your problem.  You will also want to address the inflammation of the back.


I do have concerns about people with high blood pressure or other health issues such as weak veins using an inversion table.

I do not think that you have to go to such a big angle change that it would cause a problem, but it is worth considering.  I think just a slight change in position is what does it.  From what I have read, you do not put your head down on the floor with it.

Before I bought an inversion table, I would rule out doing back stretches, acupuncture, topical pain patches and creams as well as Joint Advantage Gold. If you do not treat the underlying inflammation and spinal disc problem, I don’t think an inversion table will be a complete remedy.

Please bear in mind, this is just my opinion about inversion tables.  I don’t want the inversion table people getting mad at me.  A lot of people get relief from them. 

(Opinion)

After reviewing all the natural methods to relieve back pain on this site:

• Herbal plasters
• Topical pain relief cream
• Stretches and exercising
• Glucosamine sulfate to help re-build the disc
• Herbs to treat the inflammation
• Enzymes to treat the inflammation- like bromelain
• Acupuncture – to stop muscles spasms and increase circulation to help the body heal
• Magnesium supplements to be sure your muscles can relax

You should know about back surgery.  I am not an expert, so you should always consult your medical doctor, but you should be informed of the possible downside of back surgery.


In a disc prolapse, what they usually do is fuse the vertebrae together.  They take out the cushion between the bones and basically screw the two vertebrae together.  They sometimes will use different materials between the bones to “cushion” them.  There are many techniques that are used.

I have heard many stories from my patients.  When you fuse the two vertebrae together, that can put more pressure on the adjacent discs.  This makes it more likely to suffer a problem with disc later.

Since back pain often comes from muscle spasms or tightness, the underlying cause of the pain is not addressed.  So your back can still hurt.

In some cases, back surgery is the only option.  I have heard two cases of people whose discs were completely severed from their spines and they had bits of disc floating around in the back and pressing on a nerve.  I think this is rare though.

As an acupuncturist, I have had good success with treating back pain.  The acupuncture relaxes the muscles.  It usually takes twice weekly appointments for about a month.  If you have underlying health issues, it usually will take longer.

Topical creams can be very effective to improve circulation and relieve pain.

Boswellin cream is one of my favorite pain relief products.  Boswellin is a natural anti inflammatory herb that is used to relieve pain.  It is used in Chinese medicine to resolve blood stagnation.  That is, blood that is stuck in one area and not circulating well.  That could include bruises, which is the external evidence of pooling blood.

Even if you do not see it, you can have “blood stagnation” in your body.  This is how Chinese medicine explains the cause of pain.  Pain is caused by a lack of circulation.  Once you can get better circulation, your body can heal itself.

Boswellin cream is very thick.  The tube lasts me a long time because so little of it is needed.  This cream also includes cayenne, so be careful to wash your hands thoroughly after use before rubbing near your eyes.

The ingredient description for this is:

Supplement Facts Boswellin cream offers two medicines, Capsaicin and menthyl Salicylate (from Wintergreen),    Active Ingredients: Methyl Salicylate 10%, Capsaicin .025% Other Ingredients: Boswellia serrata extract for Boswellic acids, Vitamin E, and Ascorbyl Palmitate in a vanishing cream base.  Boswellin cream: Boswellin Cream
I use this cream for pain just about anywhere.  I especially find it useful for foot pain.  It penetrates quickly and relieves foot pain in minutes for me.  For back pain, pain patches and Joint Advantage Gold are my first choices, but this pain cream can help also.