Suffering from chronic back pain is very common.  While some back pain has no identifiable cause and is known as non-specific lower back pain with the pain often disappearing after a few weeks, others will suffer from chronic backpain.

The key causes of this is aging and trauma.  In some cases, lifestyle habits (including smoking, bad or poor posture as well as physical inactivity) can contribute to the pain and discomfort.

We share several tips on how to change your habits to protect from this chronic back pain.

Checking your mattress

You could be sleeping on too soft a mattress or one that has seen better days.  If your back is bent throughout the night, this is not good news.  Instead, invest in a mattress and pillow that conforms to your shape - such as made from memory foam - so you do not sink into a C or V shape.  We spend hours of our life in bed so it makes good sense to invest in a good mattress.

Getting into the habit of stretching

Stretching is a really good habit for helping with back pain.  If you are working whether physically or at a work station or screen, try to take a regular break say every hour to do some stretching.  One suggestion is to lift your arms above your head and rotate them while stretching your legs and hips, helping to keep your tendons and ligaments supple.  

The problem when sitting for a long time is that the muscles and hips tighten up so that when you suddenly stand up after a few hours, a considerable amount of stress is placed on your back.  Keeping warm and supple throughout the day prevents you from developing contractures - tight muscles and ligaments that impact on the back.  When the hips or knees are tight, this will impact your spine.

Avoiding any heavy lifting especially in the morning

The muscles and ligaments in the back are more tense in the mornings especially after a period of inactivity overnight.  This can mean you are more prone to spinal injury.  In addition, the back is most vulnerable when you lean forward, twist and lift something. 

Changing from using a single shoulder bag

If you can start to use a rucksack or a briefcase on wheels, it puts so much less impact on your back especially if you regularly have to carry around a heavy bag.

Using a suitable office chair

You might be surprised to read that some of those supposedly special office chairs are not always ideal.  If you spend a lot of time sitting on a chair for your work, you do not want to be using one that easily bends backwards making you having to constantly use your tummy muscles to bend forward and putting pressure on your lumbar spine.

Instead, you would be better served with a firm chair back.  This will prevent you leaning back all the time.  Try not to use a back support too much.  Try to balance using your back and core muscles.  If you can use kneeling chairs or standing desks, these ensure you will hold your spine upright.

Being aware of the problems with using a smart phone

If you spend a lot of time checking emails and messages on your phone, the big problem is that you are bending your neck down constantly.  Smart phones are designed so that you are looking down all the time.  That is not good for the neck.

 

If I have a problem with my own back, I find this tip very helpful

Lie flat on your back on the floor with a cushion under your head for comfort with a straight back dining type chair at your feet.  Lift your legs up, bending them at the knees so that the feet lie on the seat of the chair, and relax.  Lie still in this position for at least twenty minutes before gently getting up again.  You could well find that the pain and discomfort has disappeared. This is known as static back position.

In an earlier post, we shared news of a unique form of treatment from Japan for back pain which might be of interest.

SOURCES:

Beck, B. D., Hansen, Å. M., & Gold, C. (2015, September 30). Coping with work-related stress through guided imagery and music (GIM): Randomized controlled trial. Journal of Music Therapy, 52(3), 323–352
https://academic.oup.com/jmt/article-abstract/52/3/323/2614186. (Accessed, 2 July 2021).

Cheatle, M. D., Foster, S., Pinkett, A., Lesneski, M., Qu, D., & Dhingra, L. (2016, June). Assessing and managing sleep disturbance in patients with chronic pain. Anesthesiology Clinics, 34(2), 379–393
https://www.anesthesiology.theclinics.com/article/S1932-2275(16)00008-2/fulltext. (Accessed, 2 July 2021).

Dehghan, M., & Farahbod, F. (2014, September 20). The efficacy of thermotherapy and cryotherapy on pain relief in patients with acute low back pain, a clinical trial study. Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research, 8(9), LC01–LC04
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4225921/. (Accessed, 2 July 2021).