I’m fit, I’m healthy…so why does my back hurt?

“Deelan, I run 3 times a week, I lift weights 4 times a week, my diet is spot on but I just have this awful ache in my back..what else am I meant to do?”

This is a typical example of a stereotypical ‘healthy’ person however they still suffer from back pain…but oh how can this be! The first thing I ask them is “how long do you spend a day performing these activities?” in which a typical reply is “1-2 hours a day” then I go on to say “so what do you do for the other 22 hours of the day then”….. huge sigh “..ahhh, I may know what may be causing it now”.

This is a common misconception of our society today. Yes, exercise and a balanced diet is essential but our bodies don’t benefit from 2-3 hours of effort a day alone, our bodies need 100% attention a day to get the maximum potential that we all desire. A common example I like to use with my patients is to describe the human body to a car. To get the car running efficiently we feed it with oil and petrol just as we do our bodies with correct nutrition. However, if we leave the lights on at the end of the day..let me tell you that car will struggle to start in the morning. So leaving the lights on is a terrible thing to forget which can cause annoying consequences. So what are we forgetting to do with our bodies that leads to the ever so dreaded back pain.

Three common poor posture traits that most of us should question are, how do we sit on the sofa whilst watching the tv? How do we sit at our desks whilst at work? And finally what position are we sleeping in while we sleep?…… more often than not the answer is THE WRONG WAY!

Communications regulator Ofcom said UK adults spend an average of eight hours and forty-one minutes a day on media devices, compared with the average night’s sleep of eight hours and twenty-one minutes. Almost four hours a day are spent watching TV according to Ofcom’s survey of 2,800 UK adults and children. This a staggering statistic. This study suggests the average person in the UK spends 4 hours a day watching TV, lets say the average person sleeps for 8 hours and the average person is at work for 8 hours a day. This gives a potential total of 20 hours of the day where your poor decision in posture can be doing detrimental damage to your spine. Those 2 hours of good eating and exercise don’t seem as important now do they..? Here are some tips to help you look after your body for the whole 24 hours in the day!

At your desk..

Push your hips as far back as they can go in the chair.

Adjust the seat height so your feet are flat on the floor and your knees equal to, or slightly lower than, your hips.

Adjust the back of the chair to a 100°-110° reclined angle. …

Adjust the armrests (if fitted) so that your shoulders are relaxed.

On the sofa..

To avoid back pain, it is best to sit with your knees level with your hips, your lower back properly supported and with both feet on the floor. Crossing your legs or putting them up on the sofa next to you can lead to aches caused by bad posture.

When your in bed…

If you’re a back sleeper: Put a pillow under your knees to allow your spine to maintain its natural curve.

If you’re a stomach sleeper: Put a pillow under your lower abdomen and pelvis to ease back strain.

When sleeping on your side: place a pillow between your knees, try to keep your top leg from falling over your bottom leg.

I hope you found this informative and a wake up call that our bodies are a special gift that we control in which we need to give 100% attention 24/7.