Five Tips For Overcoming Back Pain

Almost everyone has or will experience back pain at some point in their lives. For some, it can be an overwhelming experience that makes even simple things incredibly difficult and painful. If you have very serious back pain, including numbness or tingling in your lower body, you should speak to a healthcare professional right away. However, for less severe pain, there are a few things that you can do at home to improve your situation. Here are a few tips:

• STRETCH IT OUT: Sitting, bending, standing and various other activities that you do every day put strain and stress on your back. This leads to pain. It’s important that you stand up and stretch your back, shoulders and legs throughout the day. Move into stretches slowly and don’t bounce, which could cause injury. Also, remember that stretching should not hurt. Don’t force your body into difficult positions that cause pain.
• STRENGTHEN YOUR ABS: Weak abdominal muscles can place stress on your spine, causing pain. Strengthening your ab muscles reduces stress on your back and helps support your spine, helping eliminate lower back pain. If you experience lower back pain, you’ll want to strengthen your core muscles. There are a number of exercises you can do to accomplish this.
• LIMIT YOUR SITTING: Sitting hurts. Numerous studies have shown that sitting for long periods can lead to a variety of problems. Unfortunately, most of us spend a lot of our day sitting. We sit in cars. We sit at desks. We sit while watching TV. All of this sitting leads to pain. Throughout the day, take breaks from sitting. Stand up. Walk around a bit. Stretch. This gives your body a chance to recover from all of the sitting that you’ve done. When you do sit, make sure that you have a set-up that doesn’t cause unnecessary stress on your back. Use a chair that supports your back, keep your feet flat on the floor and don’t strain or stretch to reach your desk or see your monitor.
• POSTURES MATTERS: Posture matters. Slumping makes it more difficult for your body to support your weight, which causes stress on your back. Imagine a straight line passing through your body to the floor. Your body should line up with this imaginary line. Keep your pelvis level and don’t let your lower back sway. Keep your shoulders back and relaxed and balance your weight evenly on both feet.
• SO DO YOUR FEET & HIPS: How you walk and stand will also affect your back. For example, walking with your toes turned out throws off your body’s alignment. Keeping your feet straight will reduce pressure on your back, reducing pain along with it. If you’re lifting something, bend from the knees to pick it up and set it back down. Bending from your back can cause pain and even injury.

If you’ve been experiencing back pain, whether as a result of a recent injury or a chronic condition, please don’t hesitate to give us a call. Remember, at Physiomed…Healthier Starts Here.