Back Pain can ruin your day

From the Gaston Gazette

Lower back pain can ruin anyone's day. If I suffered with lower back pain I would see a health care professional to pin point the cause before I embarked on the exercises recommended to strengthen my back.

Our backs are probably the most abused part of our body. We pick up heavy things incorrectly or things only a crane should lift.

We pick up children from a bent over position and plunk them on our hip, stretching the spine completely out of alignment in an unnatural position, walking around half the day is this position.

Another cause of back pain is that we carry too much extra weight in the front of our bodies and we compensate by walking with our back arched, allowing the abdominal muscles to get a free ride out of their normal workload.

And mattresses can cause backaches. Too soft, too hard or too old and we start each day with a hurting back. Not a good thing for a positive attitude to start your day.

There is a catch 22 about this - you are darned if you do and darned if you don't.

When we start the day with a backache the last thing we want to think about is exercise - that is the catch. But after defining the issues that caused the back pain, exercise is the option that most health care providers recommend.

The American College of Sports Medicine found that exercising four days a week gave people greater relief from back pain than working out fewer times a week or not at all. In the study, 120 people were randomly assigned to one of four groups for 12 weeks, with the groups doing strength training two, three, four days per week. The fourth group did no exercise. Those in the four-day-a-week program had 28 percent reduction in pain compared with 14 percent for those who exercised two days a week. The four-day group reported better quality of life and less disability.

That is good news.

If you have had an injury or other condition that has affected your back and you suffer lower back pain, your orthopaedic surgeon and physical therapist may recommend that you exercise during your early recovery.

A dear friend has been depressed with back pain, until she learned from her doctor that no surgery was needed, and back specific exercise therapy was prescribed. We rejoiced together. It was good to hear her laugh again, and this column is dedicated to her. You go girl!

An interesting article. More on back pain at thr usual www.backpainloss.com