Why is it such a common thing, what exactly causes it?
(What can a human do to ensure the least chances they get it later in their life?)
In: Biology
It’s not just back pain. stomach pain, jaw pain, shoulder pain and headaches. It’s all about where you carry your stress, and all psychosomatic pain becomes worse when you focus and think about it. Doctor Sarno has written books about the phenomenon, the worst thing you can do is stop being active, rest doesn’t cure chronic pain.
I’ve had lumbar arthritis since I was 16, and I can share some of the physical therapy tips.
1. Core strength to stabilize the spine, especially your lower core that often gets overlooked.
2. Gentle back stretches that take the weight off the lumbar.
3. Posture control. Turns out all that sit up straight stuff is true.
To avoid it do yoga and other exercises that strengthen your back muscles. The lack of muscle development is what leads to back pain.
PT here. I’ve seen a lot of answers that explain some of the pain, but not the true causes.
Most back pain the either in the neck or the lower back. We don’t usually see pain in the middle of the back. Why? It’s because of mobility. Joints can either be mobile or stable. You can’t have a lot of both. The middle of your spine is supported by ribs, which strengthens it. It also means it doesn’t move as much, but that’s ok.
The lumbar and cervical spine(low back and neck) don’t have any extra support. So they can move a lot. But with extra movement comes decreased stability. A more unstable system is prone to greater breakdown, and the resulting pain.
Also, you asked about why things hurt more as we age. Up until we are about 25 or so, we are producing growth hormones which help heal us. We are still growing, and our bones are not completely fused, so they are more flexible. This is why kids can fall asleep in the most ridiculous positions and wake up without pain, and someone in their 30’s will have a crick in their neck for a week with a lumpy pillow.
Yes, you can help prevent this by stretching, keeping a strong core, etc… But there are a ton of factors behind back pain, and it’s not a simple solution.
Take a mental note of your current posture. Most of us are slouching in our chair for hours a day
Chairs. I dont see why this isn’t at the top. Humans are not meant to sit as much as we do. Our quads tighten up, our hips tilt forward, and our spine compresses. We sit too much from an early age and all through adulthood
My Dr told me, both weak stomach and back muscles provide no support. And will eventually to an easily injured back.
From what I’ve learnt in university… proper posture is everything. How you sit, how you sleep, how you do all the little things (and ofcourse how you work out as well). All activities have a “proper” posture for doing it to *MINIMIZE* the chances that you might develop back pains in the future.
Back Muscles also help in supporting the vertebrae when doing work. (tl:dr) So Ideally you’d want to: look up how to have proper posture for doing anything; try and develop some back muscles; and possibly incorporate some mobility exercises + warming up before doing anything that might put pressure on your back.
*Disclaimer* I’m not a doctor, just a year 2 university student who has (and still is) studied Human anatomy & Human nutrition.
Pro-tip: as you age, you will find everything starts to hurt. But to your question: In addition to all the good fitness advice I would add one other thing. Get in the habit of getting good sleep. A common symptom of chronic lack of sleep is muscle spasms in the back – people often call it a “pinched nerve” but it’s really a muscle that just winds itself up and won’t let go because your sleep-deprived brain has lost the ability to send it the right signals.
OK, here’s one more thing. As you’re getting older and working out, you will want to spend more time on warming up. It will save you a bunch of workout injuries.
“Superman” exercises are a no-equipment way to keep the lower back strong. I do them with ankle weights.
People are recommending the bridge, but it is not for beginners and can cause injury, so be careful.
Latest Answers