Low back pain, how too much sitting can be causing your discomfort

Low back pain is common, in fact, %80 of people will experience low back pain at some point in their lives. It can be debilitating, aggravating or down right annoying. That being said, most back pain is actually mechanical and not from a serious condition. This means that it can be treated and even prevented. So, lets get right into it.

You're sitting. You're sitting while you read this, while you work, while you watch TV, read, eat, drive... it seems we spend most of our lives seated. Maybe we should all invest in some cushioning for our over worked and under appreciated derriere. All of this sitting comes at a price. Seated is actually one of the worst positions for our spines. It causes the bones of our spines(vertebrae to be specific) to put extra force on the discs between them. This is like taking an Oreo cookie and squeezing one end while the cream filling spills out of the other! This can cause pressure to be put on the nerves, tears in the disc, disc herniation, disc bulge.... the list goes on. On a muscular level, we are training the muscles that are shortened by sitting and the muscles that are lengthened by sitting to stay in those positions. This is one reason why it can be so difficult to stand up straight for any prolonged length of time! So of course I'm going to say, stop sitting so much! Try taking microbreaks every 20 minutes or so and stand up to stretch your poor muscles.

Low Back Pain Relief

1. Stand up
2. Place your hands over your low back (right in the natural arch) for support
3. Extend backwards, allowing you head to fall back and rolling your hips forward at the same time to keep your balance (otherwise you'll end up on the floor!)
4. Exhale completely, you'll notice that you will get a little extra stretch/ extension out of doing this
5. Straighten back up and repeat, 10-15 times