This awareness campaign is organised by BackCare, the charity for healthier backs. With 4 out of 5 adults experiencing back pain at some point of their lives, being aware of how we can reduce our chances of injuring our back should benefit many of us.
In our busy daily lives it can be impractical and unfeasible to spend hours exercising but we can still help ourselves to maintain a healthy back by making small changes in our daily life. The following tips to keep your back healthy will be relevant whether your daily activities involve sitting at a desk all day to running around after the family and everything in between.
- Strengthen your deep core muscles – pilates, yoga and simple, specific deep core muscle strengthening exercises recommended by your physiotherapist can all help you to build a stable centre or core. This acts as your body’s natural corset and will help protect your back from injury.
- Stand rather than sit when working at a desk or PC – hours can easily be spent sitting at the desk and the typical rounded shoulders and slouched posture will all weaken your back muscles and contribute to back pain. Click here to check out good vs bad posture.
- Think about your posture when sitting – try and sit up straight with your shoulders in line with your ears have your work station set up appropriately for your height. Click here for our workstation set up guide.
- Avoid staying in any one position for more than 15 minutes at a time – stand up or do some gentle chair stretches which are simple, unobtrusive and will help reduce any stiffness in your joints for when you do change position.
Why not try some of these simple tips which can be easily incorporated into your daily lifestyle and will help reduce your chances of getting a most unwelcome back injury! If you require any further information or would like more advice that is specific to your circumstances do not hesitate to contact us at physio@emsworthphysioclinic.co.uk