| Lower Back Pain Relief
Lower Back Pain Relief -The Good News
The good news is that by doing
the right back exercises in the right way, you have a great
chance of stopping your lower back pain and keeping your back
healthy and strong.
Even if your back already
hurts, or is strained, there is a good chance that you can
make it better. (Note: If you're sick,
or your back really hurts and you think you've injured yourself,
make sure you see a health practitioner first.) The
Not-So-Good News About Lower Back Pain
If you don't exercise reasonably regularly,
especially as you age, the muscles supporting and surrounding
your back will eventually get weak and stiff. Then these muscles
won't be able to work well enough when you most need them
to - when you put a strain on your back. This
means it's much more likely that your will injure your back
when you do place a strain - even a small strain - on it.
Your back can get injured
from an action as simple as reaching for something on your
desk, or from a more obvious strain such as lifting something
heavy, especially if your posture is bad as you do it.
Why Lower Back Pain Tends
To Hang Around
Your back is a complicated
mechanical system with many moving parts. This is why the
condition of the surrounding muscles is so important in supporting
it and holding everything in alignment. Studies
have shown the muscles that provide support to your back behave
differently to other muscles. The key
difference is that they are slower to automatically "switch
back on" (i.e. return to their previous level of function)
after an injury or a strain. Unless
they are triggered by exercise, they can take a long time
to return to their previous level of function.
Worst case without the right
exercise, they may never return to full function and so your
back doesn't get the support it needs. When
these supporting muscles are working properly, they respond
to signals from your brain by clenching or bracing fractionally
before a strain impacts your back. This
means your back is supported as the strain arrives and so
the chance of (further) injury or strain is reduced. When
this mechanism is not working properly and the muscles don't
trigger, your back is left unsupported and thus you are more
likely to re-injure or strain your back.
This is why lower back pain
can be so difficult to get rid of once you start having them
and why you can suffer from recurring back problems.
This is also the reason regular
exercise is so important - it helps to keep your supporting
muscles active and able to do their job.
7 Simple Things You Can Do
For Lower Back Pain Relief
1. Stand upright and pay attention
to posture – don't slouch.
2. Sit upright at your desk
with your lower back slightly curved. Don’t slump in your
chair or hunch over your keyboard. Set your workstation up
correctly – screen at eye level.
3. Change your position frequently.
Get up and walk around every 20-30 minutes even if it’s only
for 30 seconds.
4. Eat healthily and manage
your weight. Extra weight, especially around your waist, strains
your back. A simple diet with a good selection of fresh foods
is one of the keys to overall health.
5. Do specific back strengthening
exercises. (Find out about the Better Back System).
6. Also exercise to strengthen
your stomach and ‘core’ muscles which help support your back.
7. Push rather than pull heavy
objects. If you’re lifting something heavy, use your leg muscles
and hold it close to your body. Don't bend over and strain
your back.
There's no mystery really!
When you take action on a few key things, you're on the road
to a better back, giving you lower back pain relief and ensuring
good health.
| Authors Details: Chris Galloway
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