Tips for Improving Lower Back Health

How to protect your lower back from injuries?

Ever experienced a jolt of pain when lifting something heavy? You are not alone then.

More than half of people that come to our practice come for lower back injuries and pain. The pain can be chronic or acute caused by incorrectly lifting weights at the gym, or medical conditions such as arthritis.

It is commonly understood that prevention is better than cure. Your spine contains your spinal cord which is the highway of communication from your brain to your body and therefore changes to your spine can affect your nervous system and potentially other parts of your body.

Changing a few habits and using correct movements can prevent overstressing your spine. Lower back injuries are one such issue that can cause significant impacts on your health and lifestyle. We’ve mentioned simple tips and habits you can use to avoid injuring your lower back and continue doing the things you love.

Strengthen the core

Strong core muscles support the body’s weight and decrease the stresses on the spine and joints. If your daily routine involves a lot of sitting for long periods, you may have weak core muscles, which increases the stress that your upper body places on your spine. However, it’s easy to strengthen your muscles in the back with a few simple exercises.

Even something as simple as a brisk walk each day builds and tones the muscles supporting the spine. Your core muscles become stronger and support your body when they can function properly.

Good posture

You may have memories of being scolded over slouching whilst reading a book or paying attention to a screen as a young child. As it turns out, this piece of advice is extraordinarily important, as our postural habits and positioning are carried on throughout adulthood.

We rarely pay attention to our postures and how our bodies are moving, thanks to sedentary lives and our daily grinds. Unfortunately, bad postures such as slouching over desks and looking down on screens result in lower back pain in many people.

In fact, bending over your screens while sitting puts more pressure on the spine than standing. If you sit for long periods, consider standing up and taking a very brief walk every 30 – 45 minutes – this allows your muscles to move, stretch and furthermore increase blood flow. Sitting with a good posture also relieves pressure from your lower back. Get an ergonomic chair to keep your spine upright and keep your feet flat on the floor.

Kick the butt

It’s always a good idea to quit smoking, no matter the reason. Smoking restricts nutrient-rich blood to the spine and supporting muscles. Not enough nutrients cause the discs in the spine that cushion the vertebrae to degenerate. As a result, smokers are at a higher risk of back pain and are more vulnerable to lower back injuries.

Chiropractic care

Chiropractic adjustments have more benefits to your overall body function than you might think! Adjustments relax tight muscles that might be pressing on a nerve, causing pain in the area. Take hip muscles as an example. Tight hip muscles are one of the reasons for lower back injuries. Tight muscles are not able to move correctly, which forces the body to use other muscles to compensate.

Chiropractic care balances your spine, which allows the muscles to relax and move correctly. Relaxed muscles relieve pressure from nerves, alleviating pain and improving communication between your brain and body.

Lower back injuries can become debilitating and cause significant injury if preventative methods aren’t implemented. Simple habits and exercises go a long way in avoiding lower back injuries.