Many people go through life with all kinds of back pain. It could be a result of an injury, from standing too long, from bad posture or like we all have to face eventually, from getting older. Of course, if you are experiencing any kind of abnormal or chronic back pain, you need to see a doctor to make sure nothing is seriously wrong. Once your doctor provides you with the treatment you need for your back, you can do certain things on your own to additionally help keep the pain away.
If this is your first time experiencing this kind of pain, it might be a good idea to understand pain better so you know how you can help your body. If you are interested in learning more about how pain affects the body, you can take this course, which will teach you more. In it, you will learn the mechanisms of pain, how to use the pain scale and more.
Recognizing Lower Back Pain
It’s easy to recognize when you have lower back pain: your lower back hurts. If you notice pain in your lower back on a constant basis or if the pain is so debilitating that you cannot even move, you need to see a doctor right away. Sometimes, however, people strain their backs from physical activities such as sports and other athletic endeavors.
If you find yourself in a slight amount of pain that gets better in a couple days, a little rest, stretching and aspirin can help. But you have to know the difference between the two. Some people ignore pain when it is serious. The key is to listen to your body. If you don’t feel like something is right or you are still in pain after a few days, you need to get checked out.
How to Get Rid of Lower Back Pain Through Your Posture
Your body is put through a lot during the average day. If you work a desk job, you are sitting slouched over your keyboard. If you work in retail or the service industry, you are on your feet all day. Both of these situations can cause searing back pain if you do not have the right posture. By improving your posture, you not only look taller and more confident, but you can help correct many different health problem in addition to helping your lower back pain. It can help with neck and shoulder pain, as well as help your circulation.
There are simple things you can implement into your life every day to help with your posture. A few people who work in offices have swapped your typical office chair for an exercise ball in order to help them sit up straight. Another tip you can do is to get up and stretch every hour. For those who are on their feet all day, there are special posture-improving shoes you can buy.
If you want to learn more about posture and how to improve it throughout all aspects in your life, you can also take this course, where you will learn how to improve your posture. In it, you will learn how to improve your posture through breathing efficiently, to stand longer without pain, correct how you walk, learn the proper way to sit and more.
How to Get Rid of Lower Back Pain Through Stretching
Like exercise, there really are no disadvantages to stretching. A solid 15 minutes of stretching every day can help loosen tight muscles and give you an extra boost of energy. You can do this any time of day, too. Some people prefer stretching in the morning to get their day going, while others stretch at night to get relaxed before bed. Another good way people can stretch is by taking five minutes throughout the work day to do a few stretches. This goes hand-in-hand with helping your posture as well as relieves the tight muscles you get from sitting or standing all day.
Not only to you loosen up your muscles, but stretching gives you increased blood and oxygen flow throughout your body and helps to relieve stress, which is common throughout the workplace. You can stretch out your lower back, where you feel the pain, or you can stretch out your entire body so you can get an all-over relaxed feel.
How to Get Rid of Lower Back Pain Through Exercise
If you have even been to physical therapy, you will know that the best way to help an injury is to slowly strengthen so your body can operate better. Strengthening the body and exercising is always a good idea, as many studies over countless years have proven. The type of exercise you choose depends on how comfortable you are with it. If you are participating in an exercise that is too painful for you to handle, you should switch to something else.
Exercise should be challenging, but it should not be so challenging that it is painful for you to continue to do. That is when you know that your body is not ready to handle that kind of exertion. If you are unsure which kind of exercise you should dabble in and how much, you should ask your doctor or physical therapist. Here are a few examples of different exercises you can do to help your back.
Running
While running does not strengthen your back, it can help immensely with your posture, especially if you run with good form. If you research more about how to run properly, you can not only even out and improve your posture, but running also helps you to lose weight, control stress, lower blood pressure, sleep better and more. Plus, races are getting even more fun with events like The Color Run, The Warrior Dash and more to participate in.
Strength Training
A lot of people worry that strength training will make them bulk up with muscle. This is the furthest from the truth. In order to bulk, you have to completely change your diet and intensify your exercise routine. With simple strength training, you don’t have to adjust your diet too much (or at all if you don’t want to) and an hour is usually good enough to get your body the strengthening it needs to be healthy.
If you want to focus on your back pain, core strengthening is the one thing you should make sure to incorporate. It is important that when you strength train, you hit all the muscle groups throughout the week, but you can do this and focus on a particular muscle group to get extra training.
If your goal is to get a stronger core in order to improve your back, there are certain exercises you can do to help. One of the best exercises for your core is doing planks. To do a plank, you will need a yoga mat or soft surface. Lay down on your stomach, then lift yourself up with your forearms. The last step is to hold your bottom half up with your toes. Stay in that position for 30 seconds or as long as you can hold it for. Your goal is to increase the time you are in plank position every day, whether it’s by one second or five seconds. Try to work your way up to a minute in plank position.
Another exercise that strictly focuses on strengthening the core is pilates. Perhaps you’ve heard of it before. Celebrities like Madonna and Miley Cyrus are pilates fans. This form of exercise works to strengthen the core using many different poses. It not only gives your core strength, but also helps to build up its stamina.
Yoga
Yoga is another form of exercise that is low impact, but can help strengthen and stretch your body. It’s similar to pilates, but where pilates works only on the core, yoga works the entire body. There are many different kinds of yoga you can practice, with some that focus more on strength and some that focus more on stretching and meditation. Yoga is not just for helping your back pain, either.
It can help you relieve stress, increase your mood, sleep better and more. If you are interested in learning more about the benefits of yoga, you can read this blog, which goes over the importance of regularly practicing yoga. If you are interested in practicing yoga yourself, it is fairly easy to start. If you don’t already have one, invest in a yoga mat.
You can find them for a relatively decent price and they last you a long time. You will then need clothes you can comfortably move and stretch in. From there, you can go ahead and take a class.
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