Living With A Slipped Disk or Lower Back Pain
Exercise
Posted on December 20, 2013 by Jenny Cromack
As any good story starts – there’s good news and bad news! So, bad news first…..believe it or not, it’s possible to slip a disk in your back when you tie your shoelace! Did you just raise an eyebrow then? It’s shocking right? And now to the good news – over 50% of us have a slipped disk and know nothing about it!
It’s scary really when you think about the load you put through your spine on a day to day basis – it is after all the supporting structure for your body! I’m not saying every person’s back ache is due to a slipped disk – it could be muscle or tendon related, a trapped nerve, joint degeneration and so on. What I am saying is that we need to be gentler with our backs and look after our spine!
Unfortunately back pain, especially lower back pain, is becoming more and more common. But with all the reading I’ve been doing since I was diagnosed with a slipped disk in my L5 vertebrae; it seems that for us humans, a bad back is inevitable – and worst of all, it only gets more common with age! If you think about it, we’re the only creatures who walk on two feet and have an S shaped spine. The spine has had to adapt over time to cater for standing, sitting and movement – ultimately our posture is a large cause of lower back pain
I’m not dismissing the other causes of lower back pain as realistically there are many of them. A weak core, poor fitness, sudden twisting or impact movements, being sat at a desk or on a sofa or in a car for long periods of time, sit ups, being over weight, incorrectly lifting heavy weights to name just a few. But posture and poor flexibility do seem to be the main ones.
Chiropractors, osteopaths and physiotherapists always start with postural assessments. You’ve got to consider how you support yourself on a day to day basis – it starts at the feet and works its way up! Flat footedness, bunions, collapsed arches; the way you walk, the way you stand, the way you run – it starts at your feet and works its way up. My pain started in my toes, knee and then hip and this was months before my back actually went. So don’t dismiss any niggles you have ….get them checked out!
Tight hamstrings, hip flexors and Iliotibial bands can also aggravate back pain. The majority of us simply do not stretch enough. We all need to take that extra five minutes at the end of our work out to stretch.
Take my advice; it’s never too early to make some small changes to help your backs. Imagine not being able to do what you love because you ignored the warning signs.
- Let’s get physical! In the style of Olivia Newton-John we need to get active! If you do spend your working day sat down, you need to get exercising.
- If you run or take part in sports, correct footwear is a must. Go and have gait analysis performed to make sure you’re not creating yourself potential damage.
- Check your technique. Regardless of whether you have been doing weights for a long time or are new to them, your technique must be spot on. Just ask a trainer to check that you’re doing it right, it’s what they’re for!
- Get yourself to a Yoga or Pilates class. Yoga for the flexibility and Pilates for the core (and of course Motive8 North offer both of these classes!). You need to forward flex (i.e. reach down and touch your toes) and extend your back – it’s what our lower backs are designed functionally to do!
- Stretch! Be honest, how many times after a work out do you actually stretch? Remember, tight hamstrings and hip flexors can aggravate back pain!
- Rest. I never thought I would say this. I was happily teaching and physically doing 23 fitness classes a week and then my training on top. Hindsight is a wonderful thing! Listen to your body. When it hurts you need to rest to give it time to repair.
- Foam Roller. Stretching isn’t always enough. Foam Rollers will help get those “knots” out of the muscles. It’s not pretty or pain free but they’re ideal for IT Bands, Hamstrings, Quads and your Middle Back.
If you have lower back pain, or pain in other areas for that matter, get it checked! If you’ve rested and done all the above, and the pain hasn’t subsided, you have to get it seen. Don’t just ignore it hoping that it will go away.
Related posts
http://www.spinerf.org/sites/default/files/journal/Banton%20Biomechanics.pdf
http://www.niams.nih.gov/Health_Info/Back_Pain/