Back pain can be a real issue, especially when you're having to deal with it on a day- to- day basis, and is something that affects more than half of UK workers yearly. All you want is for it to go away for good so you can continue with your usual routine without having to feel discomfort, or stop yourselves from doing certain things- resulting in you missing out on activities others are able to do.
A lot of people spend large amounts of money on treatments such as acupuncture and chiropractic, and although they can help you at the time, it's up to you to maintain a regular regime to guarantee that the pain doesn't come back.
Follow these simple tips to ensure that the back pain goes away, and stays away!
1. Yoga and Pilates
The video above will take you through steps on how to do yoga to help reduce upper back pain. People who practice yoga have said that it's helped improve their posture and reduce stiffness. This has been further backed by a National Center of Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)- funded study which found that yoga really does help reduce chronic lower back pain, where 90 people with chronic lower-back pain established that participants who practised Iyengar yoga, had significantly less disability, pain, and depression after 6 months. I do these exercises myself and have found they have really helped reduce stiffness in the upper back. Anne-Marie Zulkahari has been teaching Pilates for over 30 years and is one of the founders of the Pilates Foundation teacher training organisation. She says Pilates can help improve everything from posture, muscle tone and flexibility, to core strength and joint mobility, as well as relieving stress and tension. 2. Sleeping Comfortably
Source: https://www.mynextmattress.co.uk/silentnight-tokyo-divan-miracoil-mirapocket-mattress.html?attribute163=136&attribute147=24
Choosing the right type of mattress is essential, after all we spend every night in bed which can add up to approximately 224 hours of our lives every month! The wrong or an old mattress can cause back pain, and in some cases, neck pain, but selecting the right type of mattress can really help.
Memory foam mattresses mould into the shape of your body in response to heat and pressure, evenly distributing the body weight. Once the pressure is removed the mattress goes back to its original shape, and as someone who has suffered from back pain for years, I have found that a memory foam mattress really helped in reduction of back pain, significantly.
Mammoth mattresses combat back pain and are a medical grade foam, providing undisturbed sleep all night long! The combination of innovation, technology, superior materials and attention to detail makes Mammoth a comfortable and luxurious mattress, available today.
Pocket sprung mattresses provide comfort and support whatever the size or shape of the body, alongside limiting roll- off and preventing disturbance caused by your partner! Utilising a combination of high quality springs in their own individual 'pockets', the springs will act independently adapting to your body. These pocket sprung mattresses offer you a perfect night’s sleep due to their unique feel.
Buy a new, durable mattress and get rid of your old, inadequate one!
3. Stay active-Exercise
Doctors recommend that staying active and exercising is vital in helping reduce back pain. A lot of people have the impression that exercise will make your back worse, however this isn't the case at all as exercising often, can help keep your back muscles strong.
Swimming and walking are great ways to strengthen your back muscles because they are low impact exercises. You can benefit from regular walks, or trips to the swimming pool while not aggravating the structures in the lower back.
4. Posture
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bad_posture.jpg
A good posture is vital for you to decrease back pain, because if you sit with a bad posture, your spine gets used to that shape giving you forward hip tilt, hunchback, forward head and rounded shoulders as you can see above. If you sit and stand straight and remember to keep a straight posture at all times, you will not only look more confident but you will feel it too and what's more, you'll be pain free! 5. Stretching Stretching the soft tissues in your back can be beneficial for your muscles, ligaments and tendons, in the back, legs, buttocks and around the spine. Try the stretches above, but remember to do them on a regular basis. Do you suffer from back pain? What has helped you to reduce the pain, or get rid of the pain completely? We would like to hear your thoughts.
