Approximately 80% of people have, or will experience, lower back pain at some point in their life. Repetitive motions, poor posture, and even stress, can all lead to some degree of lower back pain. Here are 5 things to consider to start yourself on the path to a healthier back.
Posture:
More than just sitting straight, posture is the way you habitually move everyday. This starts from your feet and matters all the way up to how your hold your head. Being aware of your posture is the first step to eliminating it as a contributor to back pain. Visit an exercise professional such as a Physiotherapist or Kinesiologist to get an assessment of your posture and movement patterns. Once you know what areas of your body need more stretching or strengthening, it’s time to implement a movement routine. Often times just implementing a few opposite movements to how you regularly move everyday can make a difference in how your body feels. Adding a full strength and mobility routine a few times a week will be the biggest influence in reducing and preventing lower back pain from posture imbalances.
Core Stability and Glute Strength:
Muscle groups that are commonly weak in those with back pain are the abdominals and the gluteals (abs and butt). Spending time strengthening these muscle groups daily, often create relief of lower back pain. Your abs and glutes pull on your pelvis which is the bowl shape you can feel by finding your hip bones. What can happen with the muscles around the pelvis is, they can become weak and/or tight which pulls the pelvis into a position that compresses the lower back. By consistently strengthening and mobilizing the glutes and abs, they can be used more efficiently and bring the pelvis into a position that relieves some tension in the lower back.
Mobility:
Very often, the cause of lower back pain is not actually in your lower back. If the hips, ankles, or even another part of your spine is weak or not moving well – this can greatly impact your lower back health. When one joint or muscle group becomes chronically weak, the body sometimes responds by tightening around the muscle to protect it. Each time this happens, another muscle group has to overcompensate to make up for the lack of movement in that weak and now very tight muscle. Consistently stretching and strengthening all major muscle groups can help prevent that cycle of tightness and overcompensation from making it to your lower back. A Kinesiologist, Physiotherapist or Chiropractor can assess your movement patterns and help you identify what joints or muscles might be impacting your lower back.
Breathing:
Most of us don’t spend a lot, if any, time thinking about how we breathe as it is (hopefully) an automatic, natural maneuver. What should be simple and indeed automatic, however, is actually complicated and can be practiced and improved. There are a lot of muscles involved in the breathing process and just like in the rest of our body, these muscles can become tight or weak which alters how the movement is created. Ideally, when you breathe in, you want to notice some expansion all the way around your ribs and low towards your belly. It’s easy for breathing to happen higher in the chest which isn’t going to have the same benefits as a full, deep breath. When you’re able to breathe in – expanding around the lower ribs – and breathe out a controlled rate, this keep the pressure even in your abdomen and can relax the back muscles. Further, breathing in the nose helps to keep your heart rate low and forces air to travel through the full respiratory tract. More than the physical benefits, this deep, controlled breathing pattern can reduce stress and anxiety symptoms which will aid in keeping tension in the muscles to a minimum.
Stress and Mental Health:
Pain in your body can often be a result of stress or mental fatigue. Our bodies often show stress through physical symptoms, even if we don’t experience it mentally. Taking time to slow down and take care of your rest and recovery needs can have a large impact on physical pain. Making sure to get a restful sleep when you have lower back pain is important for recovery. Consistent practice of deep breathing and controlled relaxing of your muscles can help make it easier to use these tools in times of high stress. You don’t need to be in crisis to think about your mental health. Get good at self-care and relaxation tools while you’re feeling good so that you can use them efficiently when you need them; find yourself a Psychotherapist you work well with to help you learn, and practice these tools.
If you have any questions or would like to explore further, please book a free, no-charge online appointment with either myself, Evelyn Merriman, BKin, RKin, or another Kinesiologist in Kitchener or Waterloo at CARESPACE. We are happy to listen and are here to help!
