Top 3 Tips for Avoiding Back Pain

LISTEN TO WHAT YOUR BODY IS TELLING YOU!

• When you feel Pain it’s a message from your body that you need to modify your daily activities or habits! You may need to slow down or ease off the actions you are performing on a regular basis. If sitting at the computer for hours gives you shoulder pain, upper back, neck pain or headache you may need to take a break every hour to get up have a quick stretch or walk. It also makes sense to seek professional help if your back keeps aching  and giving you pain.

PERFORM REGULAR STRETCHING EXERCISE

• Is key… and for most people the best exercise to prevent back pain is to stretch. This is something that even most exercise junkies do not do enough of.  Stretching will help counteract the effect of prolonged sitting and sedentary existence. We need to stretch regularly for mobility and flexibility and most importantly stretching exercise performed carefully will help correct misalignment and imbalances in the muscles and joints. Stretching helps to balance the effect of any repetitive or unbalanced activities that we do on a daily basis even including gym work or sporting activities that may also cause  asymmetrical stresses on the back.

OBSERVE YOUR POSTURE IN ALL ACTIVITIES
Good posture is not about visualising a static military style position where you have an imaginary steel rod in your spine! Developing  good posture is about becoming more conscious of the position your body is in… on any moment to the next moment . This will definitely help you avoid back pain that comes from long term bad habits and imbalanced activities that ultimately put undue stress on your back.
Are you are experiencing back pain or want more advice on the right stretching exercises for you or wish to learn the essential keys for good posture?  Please call my clinic and schedule an appointment. We aim to educate our patients on how to avoid developing problems as well as helping to correct them once they have developed.
Stephen Thwaites
Chiropractor and Osteopath