Things you can do at home when you are in pain:
Painkillers
Take them at night so you can sleep as without sleep you can’t heal.
Heat or Ice
Apply heat via wheat bag or a microwaved hand-towel if simply sore.
Use an ice pack or ice cubes (inside a sock and wrapped in a towel) if sore and swollen/hot
Ointments
Rub in deep heat cream if simply sore.
Anti-inflammatory cream if sore and swollen/hot
Compression
Bandage a sore joint either with an elastic bandage or a compression brace.
Specialised joint braces can be purchased from many chemist shops.
Keep moving
Move sore backs and other joints gently in a range they can tolerate without much pain. Backs respond well to gentle yoga cat/cow stretches. Get up often and walk around as sore backs like to seize up when seated too long.
If you’ve already had a massage or some physio, do the recommended stretches and exercises several times a day whenever you have an opportunity, at least once a day.
General Advice on Exercise
Many people’s exercise regimes are quite repetitive, especially those of runners, cyclists and other types of endurance athletes. A well rounded exercise regime should not only contain cardiovascular exercise, but also regular strength and mobility training to maintain muscle mass and full joint range of motion.
Include a regular weekly Yoga or Pilates session or another form of mind-body exercise such as Tai Chi or Qi Gong into your exercise routine to make your body all round stronger, more functional and mobile and avoid unnecessary injuries.