It’s another New Year and time again for us to take stock and decide on the dos and don’ts for the year. For those with lower back pain it is a good time to do things differently by taking on a more proactive approach to managing your back pain. In addition to finding the right type of specialist(s) to diagnose and treat the cause of back pain, there are lots of things you can do on your own to complement medical treatments.
Exercising for your back pain
This is probably the single most important thing you can do for your back. After a painful episode of pain, many patients naturally tend to overprotect their backs and avoid exercise. But without exercise, the back gradually becomes stiff and weak, which in turn leads to increased pain. By keeping the back and abdominal muscles healthy and strong, you can better support your spine, hasten the healing process and minimize the chance of future pain or injury. There are various back exercises that can help reduce pain so work with your therapist to find the approach that best works for you.
Lose even a small amount of weight
If you are overweight, every additional kilogram you carry around adds strain to the muscles and ligaments in the back. To compensate for this, the spine can become tilted and stressed unevenly, which often leads to low back pain. According to the American Obesity Association, people who have a large waist size (>35 inches for women and >40 inches for men) are particularly at risk for lower back pain. To shed weight, you should aim to be involved in a long term routine of proper nutrition and fitness programme. Any little weight loss will have a large added benefit to your spine. So become more active by walking, jogging biking as this increases your metabolism and helps burn calories.
Be choosy about your bed, mattress and pillows
In choosing mattresses go for one that you sleep most comfortable on irrespective of the make. There is actually very little medical research about what types of mattresses and beds are best for the back (including orthopaedic mattresses). This puts a large part of the onus on you to research and test the various beds, mattress and pillow options available. One medical study actually showed that a medium-firm mattress is actually better than a firm mattress for most back pain sufferers. You should also pay attention to you sleeping position based on the cause of your lower back pain to help protect the spine. For instance,patients with low back pain from degenerative disc disease may prefer to sleep on their stomach, using a relatively firm mattress and placing a flat pillow under the stomach and hips, which can further reduce stress on the lower back.
Lift correctly
Mind the way you carry heavy loads this year. Avoid them if you can but if not, always bend your knees while lifting something heavy from the ground and try carry the load close to the body.
Move more
If you have a desk job, make it a habit to stand up every 20 to 30 minutes. Stretch your neck, shoulders, hips and lower back. Remember that moving draws fresh oxygen rich fluid into your spines disc keeping your backhydrated andhealthier.
Wishing you a pain free year.
Nkiru Jibuaku is a British trained Physiotherapist. She currently works as a Senior Physiotherapist in Lagos and can be reached on
coporatephysio5@gmail.com
