Postural habits and lack of exercise, among the causes of low back pain
It is one of the most common health problems of our time: low back pain is so common that it has become the second cause of sick leave, after trauma.
So much so, that according to data collected by BeyerFisio, between 80% and 90% of people will suffer from back pain throughout their lives. It is clear that inappropriate postural habits have a lot to do with its appearance. Thus, the most frequent causes of back pain are derived from poor posture, stress or positions held for a long time. This happens most often in people who spend all day standing or sitting.
With these postures, certain muscles are kept in constant tension. To give a couple of examples: trapezoids in people who work on the computer or spinal trapezes in people who work standing. In addition, these postures greatly increase the pressure on the vertebral discs, which can cause wear and tear of these structures in the medium to long term, favouring the appearance of hernias or protrusions (causing greater spinal pain with probable irradiation to the lower or upper limbs). If we add to this a lack of muscle tone in the muscles of the back, since few people do sports to strengthen it, things get even more complicated.
In addition, other frequent causes of back pain are scoliosis or osteoarthritis and osteoporosis in older people.
For all these reasons, back pain worries us, and a lot.
Take note of five useful tips to try to prevent them.
1. Sleeping on your back or side
People spend 6 to 8 hours a day lying down. It is the time during which the spine rests without supporting the weight of the body and it is important to take care of the posture that is adopted. Experts point out that the ideal posture is on your back or in the fetal position (lying on your side on your side with your knees and hips bent and with your head and neck aligned with the rest of your spine). If there is acute discomfort or lumbar injury, you should adopt the posture on your back and with a pillow under your bent knees.
Sleeping on your stomach is not recommended, except in the case of medical indication. Modifying the normal curvature of the lumbar spine and forcing the neck to remain turned to one of the two sides can be very harmful to our spine.
2. Fit abs
Exercising helps develop muscle tone and is the best prevention to avoid back pain or body discomfort. Some particularly recommended exercises are Pilates, yoga and swimming. The BeyerFisio team also recommends daily walks of 30 to 60 minutes at a brisk pace, wearing good shoes and doing sit-ups for 5 minutes a day: in a few days you can see stability in the whole body and then a relief from discomfort.
3. A good mattress and a good pillow
The mattress and pillow are key factors in back health and should allow a good adaptation to the natural curves of the spine. When buying a new pillow, it can take anywhere from one to 14 days for a person to adjust. A soft, flexible mattress adapts more easily and will improve the contours of the body, which is good for sleep, also makes blood circulate better and makes it harder to get into an awkward position.
4. Stop stress
The level of stress greatly influences a person’s mood, but also the health of their back. 69% of patients suffering from depression report somatic symptoms, such as back pain, dizziness or gastric discomfort.
5. Keep an eye on daily postures
The most common causes of low back problems arise in the work environment. On the one hand, there are jobs that require physical overexertion and repetitive movements (standing all day) and others that are carried out in office environments (sitting all day). In offices, the main reason for back pain is the inappropriate way of sitting. Most people sit on the edge of the chair. In the case of women, heels can cause back discomfort. When worn, the postural axis of gravity shifts forward and the lumbar discs are forced and sometimes damaged.
BeyerFisio recommends that those who spend many hours sitting have an office chair that allows you to adjust the seat, the backrest and also the height of the armrests. It is important to try to place the computer screen right in front of the body, the arms should form a 90º angle, keeping the forearm and hand in a straight line. You should try to support your forearms when writing, so you will avoid overloading the muscles that go from the shoulder to the neck.
Source: Hola
