Lower back pain can be uncomfortable and difficult to manage, and some common coping strategies and issues could actually be making your low back pain worse.
Here are some things that could be making your low back pain worse.
- You lift things incorrectly – It doesn’t take lifting a heavy object to increase back pain. Most of the time it is how you lift an object. Keeping you back straight, bending at the knees, using you legs, avoiding twisting motions, and keeping the weight close are good ways to avoid low back pain
- Your bed isn’t supportive enough – Mattresses should be changed about every 10 years and pillows about every year. Many people experience a great benefit in reducing low back pain by just changing their mattress.
- You sit for long periods of time – Many jobs require working behind a desk, which results in long periods of time sitting. But sitting actually increases pressure in the spine by up to 25% versus standing. Also long sitting postures creates tightness in your muscles from “static” contraction. The best way to address this is to get up and walk around for a few minutes every hour.
- Your not moving enough – Movement helps keep you healthy. We see more people that are sitting or not moving enough throughout the day, than someone that works in a job that requires them to be constantly moving or people that make a focused effort to exercise throughout the day.
- You underestimate the value of medical treatment – Chiropractors and physical therapists are experts at addressing low back pain. Addressing back pain immediately when you experience it is better than waiting and seeing if it will get better. People with low back pain often wait and see if it will get better over time, but in many cases this just leads to a longer recovery time.
While addressing these things may not eliminate you have a low back pain experience, they can definitely impact the severity and period of time you are experiencing low back pain.