Back Pain

     If you’re like me or my dad or an old man out there, you suffer some kind of back pain and most people will have you believe you can’t do anything about it. You have to adapt your lives because for the next however-long-you-decide-to-live you’re going to be bottoming for some serious uncomfortable and range-restricting back problems.

I have terrible lower back issues. I think it started since I was in high school. Anyway, after years of dealing with back problems I learned a few things—one of those things was you can fix your problems! Yea, the amazing thing about the body is that it can heal itself. Sometimes it just takes a little work.

1.      Unless you have a prescription or doctor recommendation, cool it on the pain pills! Follow the recommended dosage and recognize that there can be side effects to even pain medication.

2.      STRETCH. In the beginning I found out that if I stretched my lower back really well, my pain would alleviate throughout the day. Simple stretches like toe-touches, leaning back, cat stretch, and side stretches really helped.

3.      Sit up. When you spend all day slouching, you put excess pressure on your spine that it’s not used to dealing with (your back muscles and abdomen muscles are supposed to work together to keep you upright).

4.      Stop doing floor crunches.

5.      Start doing lower back exercises. Google “lower back exercises.” There are dozens. Do the exercises slowly and with good form.

6.      Do abdomen exercises. As stated before, your back muscles and ab muscles work together to keep you upright. Work on your abs, just don’t do them on the floor, because that position allows your spine to lie flat which is NOT a natural position for your spine. Instead

7.      Keep your spine curved. Your spine has a natural curve, and sometimes when we do exercises we forget to keep that curve, especially when we do bench exercises. There’s a reason the backs of most chairs have a curve in them. I found out when I worked out (especially lifting heavy weights with my legs) my back would be in so much pain I would have to quit. Then I realized I wasn’t keeping my spine properly curved, rather pushing it flat against the bench. Once I remember proper form, my back pain started getting better.

8.      Massages help. Ice doesn’t. Heat doesn’t. Ice and heat only temporarily distract from pain; however, there is some evidence that regular massages *can* help.

9.      Sleep on your side. When you sleep on your back (I don’t care how good you think your bed is) your spine is forced into an awkward shape and ergo suffers.

Lastly,

10.  See a doctor. I’m not a doctor. Take my advice with a grain of salt and talk to someone who has a degree in helping you.

(Please kindly do more research)