Tips for managing back pain

Exercise regularly –Walking, swimming and exercise bike to strengthen your muscles. Anything that you enjoy doing and help you keep active will be beneficial.

Keep active and moving even when you have pain .Gentle walking and stretching will prevent stiffness and also try to avoid sustained bending activities, heavy weight lifting and long periods of bed rest.

Always lift and carry objects close to your body, tighten your tummy muscles and bend your knees and hips and not your back and never twist and bend at the same time.

Try to maintain a healthy diet and lifestyle as this will help you prevent back pain. Quit smoking as it increases your chance of developing back pain.

Most people of working age spend most of their waking hours at work and this can have a major impact on health.

Consider your work environment .If you work in an office, look at your work space and adapt it to help you manage your back pain. If your work is more manual in nature try to be aware of work according to health and safety procedures such as manual handling or loading procedures.

Always try to maintain good posture. Avoid slumping in the chair, hunching over your desk and walking around with your shoulders hunched up, standing long time with more weight on one leg.

Always use a chair with a backrest and sit with your feet flat on the floor or on the foot rest. Don’t forget to change your sitting position every few minutes.

If you suffer from back pain caused or made worse by being at work talk to your employer. They may be able to help you come up with adaptation to your work environment, patterns and activities in order to help you better manage your back pain.

Exercise is commonly advised as one of the best ways to help prevent and manage most back pain. There are many exercises that you could do which could be helpful. Most of the time structured exercises are extremely beneficial. If you find out that any of the exercises exacerbates your back pain, or if it because other symptoms like tingling and numbness stops the exercises and seeks advice from your Physiotherapist .A registered Physiotherapist will be able to assess your problem and provides treatment and advice. Exercise will be taught based on your problem to reduce pain, improve your range of movement and strength and also work on improving your posture. A registered Physiotherapist will be also be able to help to give advice on self management strategies in case of long standing back problems which is helpful in preventing episodes of severe back pain and limitation of function.