A healthy lower back helps keep our bodies upright, allows us to bend, twist and move and supports most of our body weight. Often, we take our back for granted and only think about its role in our daily lives when it’s no longer working and we’re in excruciating pain. It is a very common pain though and nearly every one of us will experience back pains at some point in our lives.
Lower back pain can be a symptom of degenerative conditions like arthritis, osteoporosis or other bone diseases, or can be caused by viral infections or physical defects in the spine that have been present since you were born. Most cases of lower back pain, however, are caused by overusing and injuring the muscles, ligaments and discs supporting the spine.
This type of back pain is often triggered by your occupation, sports activities or housework but it can also be brought on by bad posture, lifting, obesity, pregnancy, smoking, stress and sleeping awkwardly.
Protect Your Back
There are a number of things you can do to protect your back from these sorts of injuries:
- Always use your legs when lifting heavy objects.
- Sit up with your back straight and shoulders back so that you maintain the natural curve of your spine.
- You may want to use a back support to help you maintain good posture while you are sitting
- Support your back while sleeping by putting a pillow or a small, rolled-up towel between your knees (if you sleep on your side) or under your knees (if you sleep on your back)
- Wear flat-soled or low-heeled shoes
- Take a break and change positions every hour or so while sitting, driving or standing for prolonged periods
- Reach and maintain a healthy weight. Work with a physiotherapist to help prevent lower back pain
These should also be remembered following an injury as they will prevent you from further damaging your back.
Recovery
In general, how fast you recover depends on what you do. Studies have shown that rather than resting, continuing to move and go about your normal daily activities helps relieve pain and get you back to work more quickly. Maintaining a regular exercise programme that combines aerobic conditioning and muscle strengthening exercises can also help your back work better and manage your pain.
Physiotherapy Solutions
Our professional physiotherapists at Physio Med can design a tailor made exercise programme to reduce your pain as well as ensuring that the risk of you hurting yourself again is reduced by providing exercises which strengthen your back and deep abdominal muscles, improving your posture and keeping your body in better balance.
Call the staff at Physio Med and we will be happy to answer any questions you may have about whether physiotherapy is right for you.
