Lower Back Pain? 5 Things you’re doing wrong
Lower Back Pain? 5 Things you’re doing wrong.
We understand how frustrating it can be to deal with chronic, recurrent lower back pain. Missing out on family activities, taking sick days and just not feeling yourself can be downright demoralizing. Fortunately, for over 10 years we’ve helped many patients resolve their back issues so they can get back to living their life and doing the things they love. Here are our top 5 tips for back pain relief and resolution:
1. Your movements are the same from 9-5. Whether you’re sitting at a computer or lifting, twisting and bending all day, your lower back is enduring stress via repetitive motion. The key is to change it up. Get a standing work station if possible and engage different muscle groups while you work. If you have to sit, sit creatively. If you have a more physical job or take care of small children, try to engage both sides of your body equally.
2. You exercise for 30 minutes each day. Exercising for 30 minutes a day has a lot of health benefits but can’t negate lack of motion the rest of your waking hours. If you’re awake for 16 hours, your 30 minute workout makes up 3 percent of your potential movement time. Lack of motion leads to muscle tension and poor circulation which leads to pain. Here is a good routine of 15 different stretches to incorporate throughout your day.
3. You’re not paying attention to your feet. Footwear interferes with natural movement and twenty-five percent of the muscles and bones in the body are in the feet. That’s a lot of opportunity for tension and imbalance which puts stress on the lower back via the kinetic chain. Practice standing on a reflexology board, stability disc or stretch your feet on a foam roller half round. For more exercises, try this book or listen to this Podcast on foot health.
4. You have bad posture. Poor ergonomics and posture contribute to strain in the lower back and muscle attachments to the pelvis which can cause chronic pain. This includes walking/standing with forward sway or also an anterior pelvis. Have someone take a side view picture or video of you standing or better yet walking. If your hips are translated (shifted) in front of your ankles, you have a problem. Stand sideways in front of a full length mirror (or have a partner guide you) and try lining up your shoulder, hip and ankle. This is often best achieved by trying to flex or extend your lumbar spine ever so slightly, think of doing just part of a pelvic tilt while standing. Here are a few more exercises to address anterior pelvic tilt from a guy with just a couple hundred thousand more views than us. Think about your posture in all facets of your life and try to use the best body position possible.
5. You’re not getting adjusted. Misalignment in the lower back and pelvis can cause pain and discomfort. Chiropractors detect these imbalances and make corrections (adjustments) to restore alignment which improves circulation and minimizes pressure. Some specially trained chiropractors also perform foot adjustments to help overall, whole body alignment. These techniques often alleviate lower back symptoms.
