How Do I Prevent Low Back Pain?

Low back pain is certainly a tormenting condition whether it’s from an acute muscle strain or from a chronic spinal problem.

The worse thing is if you’ve had an episode of Low Back Pain in the past, it quite probable you’ll have it again. It’s aptly said—‘Prevention is better than cure.’ There are a number of ways to save yourself from some pain of the lower back conditions.

In the previous article we discussed what low back pain is and how it can be treated. And, as promised I am here with the tips to prevent low back pain.

Adopt healthy habits for your back

• Maintaining a good posture is the key. Whether you’re sitting, standing or walking you need to keep the posture right, which means you must keep the ears, your shoulders and the hips in a straight line.
• If you cannot work out proper, you must at least go with gentle exercises to keep your overall health in check along with healthy back muscles. Walking, swimming and bicycling are some of the choices.
• Do the stretching exercises on a regular basis, especially before working out.
• Sleeping on your side is recommended.
• You should keep your weight in check. Weight in excess puts a constant strain over the back muscles even while light activities.
• You should avoid lifting things that are heavier than your capacity. Also, whenever you’re lifting a particularly heavy thing use the right method and keep your posture appropriate.

Tips for those who need to sit or stand for longer periods

• Whenever you’re sitting down or getting up, it’s important to keep your posture right. The back should be straight and shoulder back.
• Choose an ergonomic chair, should be fit for your size with sufficient support for the back.
• You must change positions frequently (while keeping the posture correct), stretch your muscles in between and take frequent breaks to walk about.
• If you’re working long hours on a computer you must change to computer accessories which are ergonomic.

Tips for those who need to bend enough, lift weight or often reach out for farther things

Now, that’s a difficult situation and there is hardly much you could do to prevent low back pain.

• If you’ve had low back pain before, it’s time you talked to your HR management to shift you to a position with a different job details. If that doesn’t work out well, you should consider finding another job, if possible.
• Perform stretching exercises and regular workout (mild or full).
• Keep posture correct.

If you take the suitable precautions and avoid overexerting your back, you should do fine. However, the pain from aging might still bother you and the treatment becomes imminent. Even so the appropriate posture and other habits would help a great deal in preventing or lowering the intensity of low back pain.