sport and health

Prevent back pain

Because back pain appears

Back pain is a widespread problem, a pathology with extremely high economic and social costs. Knowing the causes of origin and the strategies to combat it is of fundamental importance both in the preventive and rehabilitative-therapeutic field.

Every person who cares about the health of his or her back should therefore learn to recognize this pathology, to learn the predisposing factors and the rules for adequate prevention. In this article we summarize the key concepts to help the reader get rid of back pain once and for all.

Back pain is a multifactorial disease. Low back pain can therefore arise due to extremely different causes. By analyzing all these possible situations we can distinguish about eight hundred causes of low back pain. Even if these factors are grouped by common characteristics, at least thirty possible causes of origin must be considered. This presupposes a different therapeutic intervention for each circumstance.

Back pain prevention is based on two levels. The first stage, or level of primary prevention, is common for all types of low back pain and is based on acquiring the correct lifestyle habits. This helps fight back pain before it appears.

Secondary prevention is instead based on a rehabilitative intervention that involves many professional figures such as doctors, rehabilitation therapists and graduates in physical education. With these interventions we try on the one hand to re-establish the conditions prior to the trauma and on the other to remove the risk of possible recurrences through an educational-rehabilitative program.

Prevent back pain before it appears

Night rest is one of the main factors that predisposes the individual to back pain . During the night the vertebral musculature contracts, stiffening. A decrease in elasticity is also accompanied by a lower vascularization which in turn results in a reduced supply of oxygen to the tissues.

As with the internal combustion engine, our body also needs the right amount of oxygen to function at its best. So it may happen that when you wake up you struggle a little to get going and that this causes the typical pain spread all over the lumbar area.

In many cases it takes just a few minutes and a hot shower to get back their natural elasticity to the muscle fibers. In less fortunate cases the simple gesture of bending down to pick up a sock can instead cause heavy muscular contractions like the feared blow of the witch.

Physiological stiffening during sleep is more linked to biomechanical issues induced by the assumed position than to the type of mattress used. However, the choice of networks remains important, which must be fairly rigid and of good quality. Less importance is instead given to the mattress that must be chosen based on individual characteristics (height and weight).

To prevent back pain and promote night rest the complex formed by a network plus mattress must be compact, neither too rigid nor too soft. Periodically turning the mattress prevents small depressions from forming where the weight of the body creates the greatest pressure.

There is no ideal resting position to prevent back pain. It must be adapted according to the physical characteristics and preferences of the individual. To relieve pain and promote night rest it may be useful to place a pillow under the belly, under the back or under the head.

Back pain can also arise due to overweight. Even more important is the distribution of body fat. Think for example of those middle-aged gentlemen, with a fatty mass concentrated in the lower abdomen to form that big and characteristic belly. In addition to significantly increasing the risk of developing cardiovascular disease, this type of obesity is a major stress for the entire back. A little like the pregnant women, the spine and the associated musculature are forced to shoulder the excess body weight during their movements. As we know, all these stresses negatively affect the health of the back and, if repeated over long periods of time, become the cause of lower back pain.

Back pain can also result from excessive physical and / or psychological stress. Concerns, anxiety and other problems affecting the psychological and social sphere can in fact increase normal muscle tone thanks to a nervous reflex mechanism. This excess of tension, which in the long term results in a permanent muscle contracture causes pain in the lower back. It is therefore necessary to try to reduce stresses as much as possible, perhaps by adopting appropriate relaxation techniques.

Even physical activity, thanks to the release of endorphins, contributes to improving mood by increasing the sense of well-being and at the same time reducing the perception of pain.

Learning the right lifting technique is essential to prevent back pain.

In the correct position the subject is lowered by completely bending the legs and keeping the torso upright during the whole movement. The ascent phase takes place thanks to the work of the lower limbs that slowly extend until they reach the standing position. The weight will be kept as close as possible to the body during its entire journey.

If the weights are lifted instead keeping the legs straight and bending the bust the load on the lumbar vertebrae increases up to 300%. Torsion of the trunk during exertion and excessive loads should be avoided as much as possible as they can cause particularly painful and disabling attacks of acute low back pain.

The vibration frequency of the car engine tends to undermine the anatomical structures that make up the spine. Further stresses caused by uneven ground or high speed can further aggravate the problem.

To prevent and alleviate these microtraumas the seat must be adjusted so that it is close enough to the steering wheel. In this way the arms will be slightly bent and the hands will hold the steering wheel in the upper part indicating 10 and 10 as if they were two hands of a clock. At the same time the pelvis and the lumbar area must be completely in contact with the backrest; the legs should instead be kept slightly bent. It is also important to adjust the headrest to the correct height to protect yourself from the whiplash in the event of a rear-end collision. Those who drive many hours a day and suffer from back pain can find relief from using a special lumbar support.

Cigarette smoking slows healing of back pain . This is certainly an aspect that many have underestimated but is of fundamental importance. In fact, smoking causes an increase in toxins and respiratory problems by reducing the supply of oxygen to the various tissues, including those that stabilize the spine. Cigarettes can therefore also cause back pain.

Physical activity is good for the back . It is not by chance that most of the medical visits ends with the indication to undertake a path of physical activity aimed at the prevention and treatment of back pain.

The primary objective of any exercise program aimed at the prevention and treatment of back pain is to make the abdominal, spinal, lumbar and ischiocrural muscles more toned and elastic. At the same time, to promote tissue oxygenation and the achievement of the desirable body weight, it is advisable to follow a regular program of aerobic activities (walking, cycling, swimming, etc.).

The ideal physical activity to prevent back pain does not exist. However, there are specific strengthening and stretching exercises to improve the health of your back.

In many cases it is more important to reacquire the lost elasticity than to increase muscle tone. Stretching at the end of the lesson should therefore not be considered as a waste of time but as a moment of pleasant relaxation that becomes an integral part of the training program.

If hurt your physical activity can be harmful to your back. It is therefore necessary to adopt a whole series of precautions, the more numerous and important the greater the degree of compromise of the spine.

Performing the exercises under the guidance of an experienced personal trainer, using appropriate footwear and practicing global warming before starting the session are just some of the measures that must be taken to release tension without running unnecessary risks.

Prevent back pain after it has appeared

When you are hit by back pain, you should not fall. The mood with which the problem is faced is as important as the adoption of rules that accelerate recovery and prevent subsequent relapses.

In the acute phase of the trauma the best thing to do is to undergo a medical examination , exposing the doctor to the symptom as completely as possible. It will be necessary, for example, to take care of details such as the causes of the onset, the duration of the pain, the period of the day in which it is felt most and its location.

Exams for diagnostic purposes such as X-rays, CT scans and MRIs are absolutely useless in the first period. Such investigations make sense only when the pain remains over 3 or 4 weeks.

Resting slows healing, getting into bed for a few days is therefore not a therapy but a sometimes inevitable side effect. Obviously during the acute phase of the trauma, when the felt pain is particularly intense and disabling, in order not to further worsen the situation, the movements must be kept to a minimum.

On the other hand, however, if there is no serious impediment, it is not absolutely necessary to remain still for too long. Given that back pain is very often due to hypotonia and the lack of elasticity of the abdominal and lumbar muscles, their further weakening would predispose the subject to new lesions even for minor traumas.

He who intends to deal with back pain with optimism and with a critical spirit should therefore try to live with the pain, maintaining a physical activity compatible with his own situation.

Painkillers do not play a direct therapeutic role, they relieve pain but do not cure the causes of back pain. In particular situations their use could even be harmful. Think for example of the possible side effects of these medicines. It should also be remembered that failure to perceive pain exposes the subject to further trauma with the risk of worsening an already compromised situation.

On the other hand it must be remembered that the intensity of pain is not directly related to the damage. Sometimes a violent and excruciating pain such as that caused by the witch's blow resolves itself after a few days. At other times, modest pain may increase over time or become chronic.

We must not therefore ignore a very slight pain that lasts a long time. In these cases there is a classic chronic back pain in which the continuous repetition of even modest stresses (driving for many hours a day) causes more or less serious damage to the back.

In most cases (95%) back pain resolves within 3-4 weeks . This aspect must comfort the person suffering from low back pain, since a correct dose of optimism helps to solve the problem.

If the pain persists unaltered for more than a month, consult a doctor for further visits and diagnostic tests.

The momentary recovery from back pain must not deceive, since in the absence of a targeted preventive intervention the risk of relapse increases considerably.

As we have seen in over 90% of cases, back pain spontaneously regresses within 30 days of its onset. However, if the causes and predisposing factors are not eliminated in all probability, the pain will recur within a few months.

For this reason it is necessary to follow all the prevention rules that we have listed in the initial part of the article.

Sometimes it takes very little to prevent back pain. In most cases, 10 minutes of exercise a day is sufficient to significantly improve the health of your spine. At other times the simple elimination of risk factors (obesity, stress, smoking, incorrect posture) allows to solve the problem at the root.