Tips for better Spinal Health

​Did you know that approximately 85% of the population will experience back pain at some stage of their lives?

According to Murtagh in his book ‘General Practice (third edition), the main cause of back pain presenting to the doctor is dysfunction of the intervertebral joints of the spine due to injury (at least 70%).  As chiropractors, we work to assess and correct dysfunctional movements of these spinal joints to thereby alleviate lower back pain.

​But what can we do to help prevent back pain?  What good habits can we abide by to help reduce the risk of injury to our spine? Here are a few tips for better spinal health with sitting, lifting and exercise.

Correct Sitting
When we sit we flatten the curve of our lower back (known as our lumbar lordosis) which adds stress to the joints, muscles and tissues of the spine.  Unfortunately, some people have jobs where they are required to sit for extended periods of time. So how can we minimise the stress that sitting creates on our spines?

• Take regular breaks where you can stand up, stretch and go for a short walk, preferably every hour. It only takes a couple of minutes.
• Ensure the chair you sit on is stable. The angle between the back of the seat and the seat itself should be ideally slightly greater than 90 degrees.  This will help to maintain the lumbar curve. A seat that has a gentle slope forward can also help to maintain the correct lumbar lordosis and discourage slouching.
• A lumbar support can also be used to prevent slouching and encourage good posture.
• Correct desk height is considered to be about 27-30cm above the seat. This allows the arms to rest with the elbows bent to 90 degrees and the hands relaxed on the desk surface.
• Attempt to have the computer screen at eye level when facing forward to reduce the need to slouch and cause neck strain.

Correct Lifting
How many times have you bent forward to lift something up whether light or heavy and felt a sudden pain in your lower back?  Improper lifting can cause a wide variety of problems from muscle strain and vertebral dysfunction to the more serious acute disc herniations.

Proper lifting is essential to minimize the risk of injury, or reinjury.  As we discussed with sitting, we need to attempt to maintain our lumbar curve when lifting to minimise the stress added to our spine and tissues.  Therefore we need to keep our back as straight and upright as possible when we are lifting something, and not bend forward.  Bending forward and putting your body in a position of spinal flexion while load bearing will increase the pressure to the discs and increase the risk of injury.

Steps to proper lifting:

• Attempt to keep your spine straight.
• Bend at the knees and hips, not the back.
• Attempt to lift from the legs.
• Keep objects as close to the body as possible.
• Avoid twisting while lifting which has been associated with injury to the discs.

Morning or afternoon?
Did you know that the spine is most vunerable to injury first thing in the morning?  It is good to keep this in mind for those that go to the gym or work out straight after getting out of bed. Heavy lifting is therefore best avoided first thing in the morning.

Exercise
Exercise can not only help to improve our muscle tone and flexibility, and overall fitness, but it’s also very beneficial for people who suffer from chronic lower back pain.  Movement in our joints activates small receptors that lead to the inhibition of pain.  So keep moving!

A good exercise program to reduce risk of injury and help to prevent lower back pain will include strengthening of the abdominal muscles and stretching of our back muscles.

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by Dr Emma Wilkinson