Cold packs can reduce inflammation and help with back pain and discomfort.

“If it’s very painful, I sometimes tell patients to ice four or five times daily for about 10 to 15 minutes,” says Amy Humphrey, DPT, a physical therapist at Body Dynamics, Inc. in Arlington, Va.

A cold pack is easy to use at home.  And if you don’t have one a package of frozen peas works just fine.

Here’s how to use an ice pack:

Wrap a thin towel around it so you don’t burn your skin and put it where you feel the pain. If you use the cold pack over your clothes you probably won’t need the towel.

If your cold pack doesn’t cover the whole area you can re-chill it and move it to a different part of your back.

When the area starts to feel numb you are done.  Remove the cold pack from that area to prevent damage to your tissues.

Ice is a wonderful tool to help get rid of pain in your back naturally.