Back pain is so common today that we have come to normalize it. The fact is that a large percentage of society suffers from ailments and even manage to chronify this discomfort. But, contrary to what we believe, back pain is not natural. With changes in habits and small daily actions, we can make good prevention to avoid health problems that may become greater with the passage of time and achieve a healthy back.
For this reason, we would like to propose some recommendations to take into account in your daily actions. With them and the practice of moderate sports, it will be enough for you to avoid back pain. The spinal column is responsible for supporting all the body’s weight and, if we help it to keep it strong and healthy, we will prevent discomfort from interfering in our daily life.
5 TIPS TO AVOID BACK PAIN
1. Pay attention to your posture when seated
We spend many hours in a chair, either at work or in our free time and we are not aware of the position we take for hours, neglecting our back. Back pain and hernias, caused by a lack of ergonomics at work, appear in all the annual studies on absenteeism. To avoid these ailments, the screen should be at eye level to keep the neck as straight as possible.
If you are going to stay in the chair for a long time, choose one that allows you to keep your legs at a 90º angle, keeping your back straight at all times, without forcing. Keep in mind that you should avoid leaning your trunk forward, and hunching your back and neck. It is a position that we usually adopt at the end of the day and that will generate tension in the muscles. You can avoid it, if you wish, by placing a cushion between your back and the chair.
2. Pay attention to your posture when standing
When you walk, be aware of your body posture. Most of the time, if we do not take into account our postural hygiene when walking, we are hunched over, with our shoulders forward, and carrying our weight on our lower back because we do not keep our abdomen strong. We must avoid this fact if we want to enjoy good health on our back.
Hold your head high, as if pulling your hair towards the sky, looking towards the horizon so that your chin is pointing forward and not at your chest. The shoulders should remain straight and downward, avoiding any tendency to rise. Activate your abdominal muscles while walking, as if you wanted to pull in your belly button, you will see that your body immediately adopts a straight position. Also activate the glutes and contract at the end of each step. Let your arms fall naturally and swing with the movement. And finally, the feet should always point forward, avoiding a very open “v” stance.
3. Pay attention to your posture when carrying weight
Although we may know the theory of how to pick up a weight, in practice we seem to forget. Often, everyday actions we do automatically, without thinking. If we are not aware of the importance of postural hygiene when performing them, we end up adopting the wrong posture which will lead to ailments. To begin with, we must avoid, as far as possible, taking on too much weight for our physical condition.
To carry and manipulate a heavy object, we must first spread our legs a little apart to have more support. We bend our knees and lower down, trying to maintain the natural curvature of the lumbar spine, without forcing. The abdomen is always active to help us not to curve the back, while we pick up the object and lift it. We will climb with the knees, which will be where the effort will fall, never on the lower back. If you follow these tips, you will not suffer injuries when handling and carrying weight.
4. Pay attention to your posture while sleeping
We spend a large part of our lives sleeping. Sleep is the state in which we rest, put aside all activity and provide rest and regeneration to our muscles. It is one of the basic needs of every human being. Imagine what it means for your back if, during this time, we maintain a bad posture. Experts indicate that the best sleeping position is on your side. The reason is that this position respects the natural curvature of our spine, taking into account that the head should remain well supported on the pillow and should be aligned with the body.
If we have not taken preventive measures and we have back pain, one of the recommendations is to sleep facing upwards and with a pillow or cushion under the knees in order to reduce the curve of the lumbar spine. Sleeping on the stomach would be totally wrong, as it would strain the neck and cervical vertebrae, and we would end up suffering the consequences.
5. Move your body
If you spend a lot of time in the same position, commit to getting up every hour to walk or move around. Write a note to remind you and put it in a place where you will see it at all times, set an alarm on your cell phone, or even smartwatches will alert you to it. If you are at work, take the opportunity to go to the nearest restroom to walk briskly and mobilize your body. If in your case, you do not stay in a chair for a long time but stand in one position, do some stretching. Move your shoulders back and forth, turn your head in both directions and stretch your back. If we stay in the same position for a long time, the muscles end up being loaded with tension, but with this advice, you will take preventive action so that this does not happen.