How to sit better to prevent back pain
Want to learn how to sit better and prevent your back from hurting. In this article I will go over how to position yourself properly to decrease the strain on your back while sitting. As a trainer, I’ve worked with many people with back pain and feel bad for the suffering they are going through as well as the many others throughout the world. By improving one’s posture while sitting it can really help to prevent strain on the back and ultimately back pain.
Before trying to address treating the pain, I think it’s critical to look at what might be causing it. What I’ve learned and experienced is that many people who experience back pain have developed it over a period of time as opposed to something happening and all of a sudden a person has back pain.
I think that our posture, while we sit, is a huge contributor to people developing back pain. Once one starts rounding their back while they sit they are putting a load of pressure on their back. It’s ok to round your back for a short time without experiencing problems. Once a person has developed the habit of sitting with their back rounded for an extensive period of time like while at work using the computer and even eating while bending at the back that person will put a lot of strain on the back. Then what happens is a person rounds their back on a regular basis day after day, month after month, and ultimately year after year. It’s that repetitive action of rounding at the back that leads to pain.
What happens when you round your back?
When you round your back, within your disc space you have a gelatinous substance called the nucleus pulposis which gets pushed out of the disc and eventually can and probably will lead to impinging the nerve. In addition, the lower back muscles get stretched as well. It’s a lot of pressure that is being placed on the back in this forward flexed position.
So what can you do to help to avoid putting a heavy load on the back?
Change the way you sit
You’ve probably heard people say or you’ve thought to just sit up straight. That’s one solution, however not the only one. A long time ago I read a recommendation from the Feldenkrais Method to move at the hips and not the back.
Therefore, if you are sitting in a chair, move forward and backward at your hips without bending at your back. You can move forward and backward as a unit keeping your back straight. Here is a video I created demonstrating how to move at the hips and not the back while sitting.
This one simple suggestion will take loads of pressure off of your back. As I said, most people develop back pain over a long period of time. So, if you change your habit of the way you sit and do your daily activities you will not wind up doing what hurts your back in the first place.
Use a Device To Support Your Back
The better back is a device that has helped many others to maintain correct posture while sitting and minimize stress placed on the back ultimately helping to preserve a healthy back and decrease the incidence of pain. Check it out below if you are interested.
I hope this suggestion helps you. I strongly encourage you to make this change. It can really help keep your back healthy and prevent wear and tear and pain. Please let me know if you decide to make this change and how it helps.
Add Turmeric to Your Diet
Turmeric has helped many people with issues characterized by inflammation. In recent studies it has been shown that turmeric has helped people with lower back pain. I think it’s definitely worth considering adding it to your diet. Lyfe botanical has developed a very comprehensive turmeric supplement called C3complex turmeric Curcumin that has turmeric as well as other key ingredients to make reducing inflammation and lower back pain more effective than taking turmeric alone. Also, it’s easier to take turmeric regularly in the right amounts to make a difference by taking a supplement rather than trying to add it to your diet.
I think a combination of the way your posture while you sit, exercises you do to strengthen your back, as well as what you eat and supplements you take can really make a big difference to reduce lower back pain.