How To Prevent Back Pain
Spenser Dougley2024-03-25T15:22:29+00:00To begin this article I thought about providing you with some staggering back pain statistics. However, I think we all know how common back pain is and how debilitating it can be. Almost everyone, at some point in their life, gets back pain, and quite often it can be debilitating to the point where people need time off work. If it doesn't debilitate the person, then more often than not it prevents them from doing something they love, like gardening or golf. It can also get in the way of sleep and cause people to become extra cautious, limiting their daily activities because it is so easily aggravated. If this sounds like you, you are not alone and there is help. Please, keep reading as these tips are beneficial to anyone. My hope is that people without back pain are reading this too and taking the necessary steps to prevent it from happening in the first place. Before I begin, if you or someone you know, has been suffering with back pain for some time and are looking for help, it might be wise to seek the advice of a professional in your area. Chiropractors, Physiotherapists and Massage Therapists are all here to help you if you are suffering. If you are unsure about who to see for your back pain, I created a guide that can be found here to help you find the right practitioner. Let's begin... Posture Most people understand that posture is important. We were all told to "SIT UP STRAIGHT" when we were young. However, not many understand its link to low back pain. When people use their smart phones too much or are on the computer all day, they often experience neck and shoulder aches, which makes sense because hunching forward puts a huge strain on your neck joints and muscles. But, it also puts a big strain on your low back joints and muscles. You see, your spine has two large muscles that run down either side of it, from the base of your skull all the way down to your waist line. These muscles keep our spines erect, or up right. Your head, which weighs about 10 pounds sits right on top of your spine. Picture a bowling ball being held up by long stick. Now if you are holding the stick with the bowling ball balanced right on top, it's not hard to hold on to it. Now imagine that stick being tipped forward slightly, away from vertical. As soon as this happens, the bowling ball all of a sudden feels much heavier because it is no longer sitting directly on top of the stick. The same thing happens to your spine when you lean forward to send a text or type on your computer. If you don't hold your head up where it can sit on top of your spine, then your head all of a sudden weighs a lot more. In order to counteract this weight, [...]