Preventing Lower Back Pain

If you are experiencing back pain, then you might wonder why it was that you never cared for your back in order to prevent your back pain in the first place. If you would have thought about the prevention beforehand, then you would not have to suffer from back pain. Back pain is mainly caused by a muscle sprain and strain. Practicing good posture is one of the many preventions of back pain.

Back pain is also caused by some kind of injury in your body and back. When there is an injury, it might be cured partially by surgery. However, surgery cannot cure all forms of back pain permanently. In addition, medicines are only a temporary relief for the pain. Most of the treatments cure the back pain for it only to relapse again at some point. So, always maintaining good posture will help you stay clear from back pain. When lifting weight, be aware of the amount of weight your body can bear easily. Lifting excessive weight will often result in back pain. So, keep away from lifting excessive weight so that you are on the right track with regard to preventing lower back pain. Maintain your back posture, and then undertake proper prevention measures to help your back stay healthy.

Preventing Lower Back Pain

Taking steps in preventing lower back pain is always prudent – prevention is better than cure!

When it comes to back health, the old saying about an ounce of prevention and a pound of cure is more true than ever. And with medical costs, the economic and psychological costs for that pound of cure get higher and higher.

“The treatment of back injuries is only somewhat effective,” said Dr. Stephen Howell, a physical medicine specialist at the Alabama Bone and Joint Clinic in Florence. “There are so many surgeries that only give partial relief or no relief. Even the procedures and injections that we do are certainly not 100 percent effective. The best thing to do for back issues is to prevent them.”

Howell said back injuries are among the top reasons patients see their doctors and said the most common injuries he sees are strains and sprains — typical gardening and yard work type injuries.

Lee Renfroe, an assistant professor of health, physical education and recreation at the University of North Alabama, said there are four direct categories for proper back maintenance and two indirect categories.

The four direct categories are posture, lifting, exercise and avoiding falls. The two indirect categories are weight management and stress management.

Tai chi, Pilates and yoga were the exercises recommended by Renfroe and Howell to strengthen core back muscles and help with posture.

“One of the most important things in taking good care of your back is posture and developing your core muscles,” said Renfroe.

“And those exercises — the yoga, the Pilates, the tai chi — all work on posture and core muscles as a part of what they benefit.”

An exercise to avoid for back health, however, is a popular one. Dr. Kasey Hill, a colleague of Howell at the bone and joint clinic, said sit-ups can do more harm than good if you are looking to strengthen your back.

“Doing a typical sit-up you can increase the pressure in a disc over 200 percent of normal,” Hill said.

“Most regular sit-ups work the hip flexors more than the actual core. … Sit-ups and even the back extension machine, those are more often better ways to hurt the back rather than help it.”

Hill added that sit-ups work the outer ab muscles, but those are the least important muscles as far as the back and core are concerned. He also suggested seeing a physical therapist and to get instruction to make sure all exercises are done properly.

“For older patients, the lower impact aerobics or tai chi programs are wonderful,” Howell said.

Renfroe said checking your home and places you frequent with an eye on safety and avoiding falls that could potentially injure your back.

If you do get injured and pull something or get a sprain or strain in your back, Hill suggested applying ice, not heat, to the injury.

“I get a lot of people putting on heat,” Hill said. “Heat can actually worsen inflammation right after an injury. If it’s sort of chronic, heat can kind of help loosen things up as people do therapy or move around. Ice probably won’t hurt, it should only help to keep it 20 minutes on, a few hours off.”

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Proper routine exercise to keep your body healthy and fit will prevent you from getting back pain. Always be careful in your movements to avoid sudden falls. This may result in back injury, and you risk lifelong suffering. So taking steps in preventing lower back pain is always prudent – act BEFORE anything happens to prevent potential injuries.

Here is something a bit different – This is a 10-minute mini MELT Map routine from Sue Hitzmann to help alleviate lower back pain and compression caused by everyday living.