Getting Your Back Back In Action...Support Your Spine To Support You

Getting Your Back Back In Action...Support Your Spine To Support You
By Rachel Zeskind

Our spines hold us up and carry around a lot of weight and stress through out our days, weeks, months and years. Many of us don't even think about how to care for that part of our bodies until it causes us pain.

If you wait for the pain caused by wear and tear or an injury to get back care to be a priority you will have a harder time than if you take a preventative approach. One orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Tang told me that if you were over the age of 21 most likely you had one or more herniated discs. Some cause pain, others do not. Whether you are in pain or taking a preventative approach, back care is actually quite simple.

Some Statistics (from American Chiropractic Association)
* 31 million Americans experience low-back pain at any given time.
* One-half of all working Americans admit to having back pain symptoms each year.
*Back pain is one of the most common reasons for missed work.  In fact, back pain is the second most common reason for visits to the doctor’s office, outnumbered only by upper-respiratory infections.
* Americans spend at least $50 billion each year on back pain—and that’s just for the more easily identified costs.
* Experts estimate that as many as 80% of the population will experience a back problem at some time in our lives.

Positive Posture
The way we sit in the car, in front of a computer or even at the dining table tends to put the spine into a forward folding or compressing position. Posture is formed out of habit and is also corrected out of habit. Get intentional!

Practice the following:
Seated position, gently roll shoulders back and align your chest directly over your hips, inhale your chest upward by taking a deep breath and encouraging your body to fully follow the natural raising motion of the rib cage, elongate the entire torso, elongate neck and draw in the core...hold the posture this way. Repeat this numerous times until it becomes a habit. It will naturally encourage the spine into proper alignment.

How Can I Avoid Back Pain?
* Build a strong core....don't ignore the core!
* Strengthen the low and mid back
* Build muscle to support the weaker areas of the spine
* Practicing positive posture
* Proper bend and lift. Never bend and twist! - I know, you may be thinking this is for old people who are broken down....well how do you think they get broken down?!? Preventive maintainable will bless the quality of your life!

How Can I Get Out Of Pain?
Unless (and many times even if you do) you are diagnosed with a severe back injury or degenerative disorder many times building a support system of muscles around weakened spine areas and the core can be 100 percent effective in reducing back pain. In my case I went from a severe level of pain daily to zero pain daily!

Exercises To Stand By
I like incorporating yoga and Pilates poses as well as traditional weight lifting and swimming into a well balanced back and core workout!

For the back:
Supermans, Facedown arm & leg reach & raise, wide arm downward facing dog, roman chair extensions, rows and swimming (both breast stroke and overhand)

For the core (avoiding pulsing/crunching or leg raises which puts more pressure on the low back):
Plank, seated boat, static crunch