Tips for Reducing or Avoiding Back Pain

It’s common for people to think that back pain and discomfort are a normal part of life and something that must be accepted.  They learn to both accommodate and adapt as ways to function while minimizing the aches and pains as much as possible.  But what if we shared some simple tips for protecting your back that would improve your quality of life and help you to enjoy your daily activities while out and about in Mill Creek.

Tips for Protecting Your Back and Reducing Back Pain

As healthcare professionals in Mill Creek, we understand that people will often resolve to live with back pain when it isn’t necessary.  Along with these simple tips and lifestyle enhancements, there are treatments that can help as well.  But first, try these tips:

Get Up, Move Around and Avoid Prolonged Sitting

Whether professionally or for enjoyment, most of us spend long hours at the computer or sitting in one place with our eyes glued to our phone screens.  The human body, with all its complex wonder, was designed to move.  When we sit for long periods of time, it compresses the discs in our spine and creates sore muscles and a feeling of stiffness in our backs and necks.

Rx:  Get up and walk around.  Getting up and moving a little each hour will remove pressure on your spine and alleviate the pain that is rampant in our society today.  Stretching and bending is another way to improve your physical wellbeing when tasked with long hours in front of a screen. 

Healthy Nutrition and Hydration

Maintaining a healthy weight has many benefits and certainly goes a long way in keeping your back pain-free.  In particular, it’s imperative to keep weight off your midsection.  When you have excess weight around your middle, it causes an imbalance and pulls on the lower back muscles continually weakening them and making you more susceptible to pain and injury.

Rx:  In Mill Creek, we are lucky to have access to lots of local farms, markets, and restaurants that offer good healthy food.  Get excited about good nutrition by visiting local farmers’ markets or take a cooking class.  And don’t forget to hydrate and drink lots of water to aid in losing unwanted weight.  Maintaining a healthy weight may be the single most important thing you can do to reduce the burden on your back and Amazing Life Chiropractic and Wellness can help you customize a nutrition plan so you can achieve your goals.

Start, Refocus, or Continue a Sensible Exercise Program

Along with a solid nutrition plan, sensible exercise not only helps with weight control, but also keeps joints limber and improves flexibility.  Without exercise, our bodies become stiff and our various systems no longer work at peak performance.

Rx:  Amazing Life Chiropractic and Wellness can help you with exercises that you enjoy and that’s in your fitness range as well as teach you to protect your back.  Warm up properly prior to beginning your exercise session and cool down when you are finished.  And most important, if you are beginning a new exercise regime or picking one up after time away, protect your back by starting slow and building up over time…don’t jump right in and train for a marathon.

Lifting Heavy Items Using Good Body Mechanics

Many back injuries, as well as general back pain, occur when you use poor lifting techniques or body mechanics.  This causes strains and sprains that can be debilitating and are easily avoidable.

Rx:  Know your limits!  Don’t try to lift too much; sometimes it’s better to make two or three trips rather than risk a serious back injury.    When lifting, keep your back straight and lift with your legs.  And finally, don’t twist when lifting, if you must turn, move your feet and not your back and shoulders.

All of us at Amazing Life Chiropractic and Wellness wish you health and freedom of movement.  Please contact us at our Mill Creek Location for more tips on body mechanics and nutrition, as well as to discuss the natural and healthy benefits of chiropractic manipulation.