Habits of Back Pain Sufferers
Back pain is wide-spread: it will affect 80% (on the low end of estimates) of Americans at some point in their life, and quite often, the pain will be non-specific in nature. People who suffer back injuries usually suffer from an accumulation of symptoms that reach a breaking point rather than a specific trauma. So, it is worth taking a look at our habits to determine whether they could be contributing to our pain. Below, I have compiled a list of bad habits that don’t seem bad until they create a serious problem, such as low back pain.
- Being overweight: Being overweight tends to shift your center of gravity forward which contributes to a bodily imbalance: besides the weight adding to the burden of a lower back, your core muscles must compensate to support the center of gravity shift, and they often become strained in the process. This ties directly into #2:
- Not getting enough exercise (or none at all): Poor circulation, poor posture, low back pain, reduced range of motion, the list goes on. Accepting a lifestyle of little to no movement is the quickest way to let your body degrade. For back pain sufferers, the buck stops here: start moving and never look back.
- Poor posture: No one wants to strain their muscles or put excess strain on the spine voluntarily. But this is exactly what we do when we spend our computer hours slouching or hunched over.
- Lift correctly: It is time to stop ignoring the age-old adage to lift with your legs and not your back. It may be easier to bend from the hip and lift, but this is one of the most common actions that will push an intervertebral disc to its slipping point.
At Family Chiropractic & Natural Healing Center, we can help you reverse these habits and make them an exception to the rule. With a focus of beating back pain or preventing it, we work closely with you to ensure your spine is in the right shape to go after all the activities you can to improve spinal health.
Give our office in Milpitas a call at (408) 263-8025
Dr. Gregory Lind, D.C.