7 Solutions for Back Pain Relief Version 2

7/30/2019 7 Solutions for Back Pain Relief Version 2

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Sittingwell Ltd

Solutions ForSolutions ForBack PainBack Pain

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Discover How To Avoid The 7Common Mistakes Made By

Back Pain Sufferers.By Lorna Kennard BSc (Hons) GSR

BASRaT MSMA CST& Rachael Wall DC AMC MMCA


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7 Solutions For Back Pain Relief The average person spends around 9-12 hours every day just sitting.

We get up, sit down to have our breakfast, sit down to travel in the caror take transport to go out, sit at work, sit at lunchtime then comehome to sit and eat our evening meal, then do more computer work, sitwhilst we are socialising or sit and relax on the sofa after a hard daysitting.

Were not saying this is the way you spend your day but can you relateto any part of this picture?

How much time do you spend sitting? And not only that, make surethat you sit in a way that avoids or reduces damage to your spine?

Because so much of your time can be spent sitting it frequently has thebiggest impact on back pain. That is why it is our focus for this articlethe 7 solutions for back pain relief. Our backs are not designed for long periods of sitting. In fact sitting is

one of the times that you will have the most pressure on your back. If you sit for long periods everyday AND in a way that goes against thebest position for your back, over time your back will let you know theerror of your ways and it will be painful! General recommendations areto keep up and moving every 30-45 minutes, at least make sure youget up every hour even if it is just for a brief period to take thepressure of your back. Sitting for long periods, especially in bad positions, can weaken thesupporting structures around your spine (Muscles, Ligaments and

Tendons). It is this kind of sustained stress and strain that can

ultimately result in your back going when you try to tie your shoelaceor pick up a pen from the floor. It wasnt that activity that caused thepain just the build up of stress and strain over time.

Help is at hand, there are a few small changes that you can make toreduce your risk of back pain, and protect your spine for the future.

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N.B. If you have any current back pain or history of back problems then please consult your health care practitioner to check if there are any specific exercises or sitting habits you specifically need to adopt.

Solution 1 - Hips Above KneesWhen sitting make sure the chair or surface you are on is high enoughfor your height/size. If you sit too low your bum and hips will be belowyour knees, which will not only make it more difficult to get out of thechair, it will also put more pressure on your back as a result and makeyou more likely to round your back. This causes the curve of yourlower back to move in the opposite way to how nature intended andputs strain and tension on the joints, ligaments, muscles and discs inthat area.

When you sit at a better height e.g. knees at least level with your hipsor ideally with your hips slightly above your knees, you will have abetter chance of sitting in a more back friendly way.

Solution 2 - Sitting Angle

The angle of your chair is so important. Gone are the days of theVictorian style of sitting with a stiff straight back and a 90 0 angle at thewaist. There is a lot of research out there which has demonstratedthat over time this way of sitting is more intensive on the back and canlead to muscular and ligament strain.

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Sitting at an angle of 110-130 degrees is much more preferable. It

more readily positions your pelvis to direct your weight through yoursitting bones and makes it a lot easier for you to maintain the correctprotective curves of the spine.

You may be able to adjust the angle of your chair, recliner chair or carseat to create this angle. This can be achieved by either reclining theback to the seat, by tilting the base of the seat so the front is lower than the back or a combination of the

two. Alternatively a Wedge can help create the appropriate angle fora fixed chair like a dinning room chair.

Solution 3 - Even Weight Distribution

When you are sitting there is more force going into your back and itssupporting structures than when you are standing. Therefore if you situnevenly e.g. naturally sit into your right side, you will have even moreconcentrated pressure emitting through this side of your body all theway up to your head!

This can be due to a number of reasons including:

1. Your chair or floor may be uneven.2. You might have misalignments in your pelvis which is causing

one side to be lower than the other. In this case treatment suchas with a Chiropractor or Osteopath would be recommended tocorrect any structural misalignments.

3. You may well have just got into the habit of sitting a particularway.

One good way to check your weightdistribution and correct it is to sit on your

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hands, palm up so that you can feel yoursitting bones (for this next technique you willneed to sit on a firmer surface).

Great now do both sides feel even? Is the pressure on your hand thesame on the left as it is on the right? Does one sitting bone feel like itis in front of the other? If so try to change your position slightly to

make it even and symetrical between your left and right sides.

Next lean forwards with your upper body then backwards.

Can you feel the difference in how heavy your sitting bones feel in your

hand and their shape? When they feel like they are pointing straightdown towards the ground you should be in the right place so simplymove your hands away once you have that sensation.

By sitting with your pelvis in a betterposition your spine will naturally stay moreupright. This leads nicely onto the nextstep

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Solution 4 - Lift And Lengthen

Now you can feel your sitting bones and youre sitting more evenly therest of your body should follow suit.

The next thing is to make sure that your upper body is in the correctposition. If you think of lifting and lengthening the front of your bodyand imagine a bit of string pulling the top of the back of your headupwards, rather than just thinking of sitting up, you will avoid thecommon problem of tipping your head back and compressing the backof your neck, collapsing through your waist or increasing the curve inyour lower back too much.

Just imagine increasing the space between your hips and the bottom of your ribcage, and that someone has then attached a helium ballon tothe top of your head which is helping to lengthen your neck. Doing thiswill naturally mean that you engage more of your core muscles so thatyour deeper stomach muscles and lower back muscles will be workingand gently supporting your back. It is important to mention here it isnot the overall strength of your muscles that is so important here

(although a factor) but their endurance. These guys are in the game forthe long haul supporting your back throughout the day!

It may also be worth asking someone to check your position. If you arechanging the way that you have sat for a number of years, you mayfeel like you are in the wrong position initally as it will not feel naturalto you. For example if have been sitting leaning forwards slightly formany years, the first time you position youself using the steps outlinedso far, you can feel like you are leaning backwards when infact you areperfectly upright. If this is the case for you then please persevere, itwont take long for your brain to catch up get used to the newnormal!

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When viewed from the side you should be sitting with your ears aboveyour shoulders; shoulders inline with your hips and that you are notlifting your chin, tilting your head back and compressing your neck.

Again this leads us nicely to the next point.

Solution 5 - Keep Moving

Now that you are sitting so beautifully it may sound like a completecontradiction but you need to keep moving. Yes thats right, sitting inthe correct position is essential to avoid unnecessarily straining yourback but movement is also important for spine health. When you aresitting there is more pressure on your back than when you are up andabout so getting up and about gives your back a bit of a break.

You should really get up every 45-60 minutes even if you are just goingto stand up for a few seconds, have a nice stretch reaching your armsstraight up above your head and then sitting back down again. Maybeit would be a good time to get up for a glass of water or if you need tomake a phone call do it standing up rather than sitting down (as long

as you dont hold the phone between your head and shoulder!). But Ineed to write things down when Im on the phonewe hear you say.Well a tall filing cabinet or shelf can make a handy desk for a shorttime if youre tall enough, allowing you to jot a few notes withoutbending down to reach a normal desk! Or use post-it notes theyadhere nicely to the writing surface keeping your hands free. Lookaround your environment Im sure there will be a solution for you.

Solution 6 - Avoid Sitting In Repetitive Patterns

You will by now have a much better understanding of how to sit morecomfortably. We are also realists at Sittingwell and know that youwont sit like this all day long (in between your breaks where you getup and move around of course!). You can keep changing position whenyou sit, in fact as we mentioned in step 5, movement is great for theback, the key here is not to always do the same thing to the same side.For example you may always cross your legs the same way, do you sit

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with your feet tucked up under your body often finding one way ismore natural, or do you always sit the same side of the sofa and leanon the arm of the chair? If any of these things ring true try to spotwhen you do them and switch sides, swap legs or move posistion

altogether. The other important thing to think about is the position of things thatyou look at or work on, for example is your computer screen set at andangle or straight ahead of you? The same would apply to your TV; doyou end up sitting at a slight angle looking to the side to watch yourfavorite show? These things may seem trivial but the little things youdo many times every day/week all add up and have an impact on yourbody.

Keep moving and keep it even.

Solution 7 - Stay Strong Through Your Core.

You can protect your back and also do a mini workout at the same timeby gently contracting your core and pelvic floor muscles as you sit.

This will help to activate the stabilising muscles around your spine.

There are a couple of ways you can think about activating your core,the important factor with all of them is that it is not a big movementnor is it a very strong force. Too often someone ends up contractingtheir external abdominal muscles (eg. the 6 pack muscles or wherethey would be!) because they are putting too much force into theprocess. The main stabilising mucles for the spine are the deepermucles of the abdomen and as they are designed to protect the backall day they work subtly for sustained periods.

It is rather useful that these muscles are also

activated by the same nerves that controlyour pelvic floor. This means that if you thinkabout the muscle contraction you wouldneed to do to stop yourself going to the loomid flow, by doing that you are alsocontracting your core. You should feel aslight pull inwards in your lower abdomen.Again make sure you are not contracting

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your outer abdonminals and you should also still be able to breathenormally whist activating your core.

Unless you have done a lot of Pilates it is unlikely that you will be ableto hold your core all the time. And to be honest when you are busyworking or doing other activities you wont have your mind on it andthe muscles will switch off again. Thats completely fine, it is best topractice little and often to engage the brain to work with the musclesso that eventually they will be working without you having to thinkabout it. Just tune into your core whenever you can, to switch thosemuslces back on again. Some people find it useful to put a cuesomewhere for example a little red sitcker on the laptop, steeringwheel or even TV surround, then whenever you notice the dot if

reminds you to check you are activating your core.

Remember at Sittingwell we have a range of hand picked back care products that can also help to enhance your sitting posture,especially if your chair doesnt have the options to make some of theadjustments we have covered here. And they all come with a 30 day no quibble money back guarantee too!

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7 Solutions for Back Pain Relief Version 2

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