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Low Back Pain - Living With Low Back Pain
Low Back Pain Guide
- Topic Overview
- Health Tools
- Cause
- Symptoms
- What Happens
- What Increases Your Risk
- When to Call a Doctor
- Exams and Tests
- Treatment Overview
- Prevention
- Living With Low Back Pain
- Medications
- Surgery
- Other Treatment
- Coping With Chronic Back Pain
- Other Places To Get Help
- Related Information
- References
- Credits
Pay attention to your body mechanics and posture
Body mechanics are the way you use your body. Posture is the way you sit or stand.
- To prevent a return of low back pain, you will need to take extra care when you lift. When you must lift, bend your knees and flex from your hips. Don't let your spine slump.
- Think about your posture, whether you are sitting or standing. Slumping or slouching alone may not cause low back pain. But after the back has been strained or injured, bad posture can make pain worse. "Good posture" generally means your ears, shoulders, and hips are in a straight line. If this posture causes pain, you may have another condition such as a problem with a disc or bones in your back.
Stretch and strengthen your back
When you no longer have acute pain, you may be ready for gentle strengthening exercises for your stomach, back, and legs, and perhaps for some stretching exercises. Exercise may not only help decrease low back pain but also may help you recover faster, prevent reinjury to your back, and reduce the risk of disability from back pain.
Walking is the simplest and perhaps the best exercise for the low back. Your doctor or a physical therapist can recommend more specific exercises to help your back muscles get stronger. These may include a series of simple exercises called core stabilization. The muscles of your trunk, or core, support your spine. Strengthening these muscles can improve your posture, keep your body in better balance, and decrease your chance of injury.
One Man's Story: "I discovered that what you have to do is this: You do as much as you can."-Robert Read more about how Robert controls his back pain by staying active. |
Take care of stress
Stress and low back pain can create a vicious circle. You have back pain, and you begin to worry about it. This causes stress, and your back muscles begin to tense. Tense muscles make your back pain worse, and you worry more ... which makes your back worse ... and so on.
There are lots of ways to teach yourself to relax.
- Stress Management: Practicing Yoga to Relax
- Stress Management: Doing Guided Imagery to Relax
- Stress Management: Breathing Exercises for Relaxation
- Stress Management: Doing Progressive Muscle Relaxation
- Stress Management: Relaxing Your Mind and Body
- Stress Management: Managing Your Time
- Stress Management: Doing Meditation
One Woman's Story: "I had too much to do and too little time. That means stress. And when I start stressing, my back starts aching. Before I knew it, my back was screaming at me."-Cathy Read more about how Cathy made time to deal with her stress. |
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