spinal stenosisMillions of people are affected by a herniated disc, spinal stenosis, or strained muscles which may result in back pain. It takes some time to diagnose and treat such conditions. And all the while, beyond living with the back pain itself, these conditions can affect your spine and reduce your quality of life. Sometimes it even prevents you from accomplishing simple everyday tasks.
We need to take care of our spine so that it helps to reduce the chances of experiencing back pain. There are a lot of tips you can choose to improve the health of your spine that involve practising simple and better body mechanics, or controlling your body movements and hold yourself when you perform daily tasks and activities such as lifting weights.
Let Your Spine Rest While Sleeping.
When you lie down to rest, all the structures in the spine that worked hard all day get the opportunity to relax and rejuvenate. The muscles and ligaments located in your back get rest and also heal themselves while you sleep.
To protect your spine, a good posture while sleeping plays an important role. To make this happen, you require a right mattress and pillows which help your spine to rest in a supported and comfortable way.
When you sleep on your stomach, use a flat pillow or sleep without a pillow. When you sleep on your side, put a pillow between your knees if it makes you comfortable. Also, use a pillow to side of the neck to prevent excessive side bending to the neck to the side and helps to keep the neck in alignment to the rest of the body
Strengthen Your Abs And Back Muscles Through Exercises
The core muscles of your lower back and abdominal muscles should be strong enough to support your spine and take away the pressure off your lower back.
Unfortunately, everyday activities of most of the people don’t involve all the core muscles, and they are less used. They need to improve their core strength with exercises. They need to spend around 15 to 20 minutes per day for the same.
Wear Proper Footwear To Support Your Spine
Whether you’re walking or doing exercise, the footwear you wear, play an essential role in supporting your lower back. Proper footwear provides a supportive base which helps your spine and body to remain in proper alignment. For example, ensure the area of the footwear you buy that fits the back of your heels is comfortable. Your footwear should not be overly tight, as a right fitting shoe to the heel prevents over-pronation (rolling of the foot inward or outside). Avoid wearing high heels as much as possible.
How Does Back Massage Benefits You?
Do you know, massage has a lot of therapeutic benefits along with general stress relief? It helps to increase endorphins hormones (the body’s natural painkiller) in your bloodstream. It even improves your blood flow. Researchers say that massage therapy has potential benefits for back pain sufferers and improves overall spine health.
Maintain A Healthy Weight
For a healthy spine, you need to maintain a healthy weight. A healthy diet & being physically active also helps you to lose weight or maintain a proper weight. Being overweight or obese, or sudden weight gain puts your spine at risk and subject to low back pain. Excess weight, especially belly fat, can put extra stress on the muscles, ligaments, and tendons of your lower back.
Always Stay Hydrated
Staying hydrated is very important in order to maintain the elasticity of soft tissues and fluidity in joints. The intervertebral discs in the spine are vulnerable to loss of hydration and can lose height. If the spinal discs start to shrink, painful disk conditions will develop. Herniated disks can also occur due to loss of fluid and make the discs brittle which eventually slips out of place.
Lift Heavy Objects Properly
Most of the people suffer from back pain due to improper lifting of heavy objects. Your spine easily twists in a wrong way and more prone to damage if you don’t follow a proper pattern while lifting an object.
Here are some tips to lift weights correctly; Stand as close as possible to the object, and put more stress on your legs and knees instead of your back or upper body to lift up the object. Face your head down and set your back straight by bending your knees slightly so that your arms come at the same height as the object. If the object is too heavy, don’t try to lift it by yourself, get some help.
Practice Good Ergonomics While You Sit & Also Limit Total Sitting Time.
While sitting, the discs in your lower spine are loaded thrice than standing. So sitting long periods can lead to a painful back condition. Moreover, when we sit at a desk or looking at a computer screen, we tend to lean forward, stressing your lumbar discs even more. Choosing the right chair and practising good sitting posture plays a significant role in supporting the natural curves of your back.
It is very important to avoid sitting for a long period. Try to walk around for every 20 to 30 minutes. Frequent movement of the spine is important to stay healthy because movement fuels your spine with healthy nutrients.
These simple preventive tips help to support your spine and to improve overall back health. If you suffer from back pain or undergoing any medical treatments, we suggest you remember these simple tips to avoid discomfort. However, some spine problems need surgical assessment in severe conditions. For more consult Dr. Surya Prakash, one of the best spine surgeon in Hyderabad.
