Suffering from low back pain is a very common ailment, but no less impairing because of that. The human spine can come under a lot of stress in daily life, and feeling the persistent ache of your lumbar area can dampen the mood of your entire day.
However, there are many things you can do to prevent low back pain, or if you already experience it, to at least make it better. Small lifestyle adjustments can make a huge difference, and your spine will be grateful for them. NY Pain Medicine Associates wants to share 4 tips to help you manage low back pain and lead a healthier and less painful life.
As spine and pain specialists, we care about helping people navigate any sort of spinal related problem, no matter how rare or simple the reason. The human body adapts and responds wonderfully when you make the lifestyle adjustments to help it, and they don’t need to be extreme at all to see results. Next, we share our top 4 tips to help low back pain that you can easily integrate into your daily routines.
Keeping tabs on your posture is one of the best things you can do for your spine and to avoid low back pain. This applies to almost any sort of activity you engage in for long periods of time or that engage your back muscles.
If you work an office job and live a sedentary life, spending long hours sitting with improper posture will eventually give you aches and pains all over, especially in your lower back. To help this you can find desk adjustments that encourage you to hold yourself straighter, watching that the desk and overall space is ergonomic.
If you work a physically demanding job, spending a lot of time bent down or lifting heavy objects, learning the correct way of using your strength can save you from having debilitating injuries that result in severe low back pain.
There is a saying when it comes to exercise and fitness that goes like this: If you don’t use it you lose it. Most people talk about muscle mass when bringing the phrase up, but it actually applies for almost everything related to the body, including flexibility, immune system and even brain function.
Keeping yourself active releases tension from your spine, training mobility helps your flexibility, and thus avoids the compression that with time transforms into low back pain. Your body becomes stiffer the less you use it, and if you don’t do any mobility exercises at all, the chances of getting injured from sudden movement increase.
Activity breaks to stretch or walk have shown to diminish lumbar pain for desk-bound workers. For people who experience chronic pain, staying active in combination with other treatments can show great results.
See: Lumbar Decompression: A Minimally Invasive Alternative to Surgery in New York
Paying attention to the way you rest your body can be really helpful for low back pain. If you start having unexplained back pain, take a look at what position you are sleeping in and make some adjustments.
For some, this looks like simply changing your sleeping position, for others, support pillows for your knees or even getting a different mattress that better molds to your body.
Increasing your muscle mass is the best way to reduce the amount of strain on your lower back. Almost any force wrongly supported will engage your lumbar area, and if you don’t have any strength training, the pressure can go right to your bones and joints, making injuries more likely.
Exercising your deep core (abdomen) helps prevent low back pain, and furthermore, studies have shown that for people with chronic lumbar issues, it can reduce the amount of pain experienced. If you work with a physical therapist or qualified trainer, they can show you what movements will help you without putting strain on the affected area.
Increasing strength in general can also prevent wrongfully engaging the lower back when moving around heavy things or doing movements that can rely on your arm or leg muscles.
It may be that you have tried all of the tips before and your back pain either stays the same or gets worse. This is a sign that you need to seek medical attention as soon as possible. Specific symptoms like tingling or heaviness can indicate a serious issue like a herniated disk, and getting treatment quickly is the only way to cure or manage them without significant impairment in your life.
Low back pain is common but shouldn’t be underestimated, as it can be a sign that something is wrong with your spine, which is one of the most important parts of the body.
NY Pain Medicine Associates specializes in treating all sorts of conditions related to the back, providing minimally invasive procedures and an excellent team that knows putting people first is the backbone of good healthcare.
Don’t hesitate to contact our office in New York and begin your journey towards a better, pain-less life.