The Demon Back Pain

A couple of weeks ago we posted a blog about posture and we had some feedback about backs in general, and questions about back pain in particular. So we thought we'd write another wee note about the demon that is back pain...

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Why oh why are you afflicted with back pain and everyone else is fine? Don't worry, you're not alone by any means: two thirds of us will suffer back pain at some point in our lives.

Happy days.

But why is back pain so common? What causes it? And how the heck do you get rid of it?!

Let's start with a wee bit of background (no pun intended...)

First we need to know what makes up the back so we can get an idea of which structures are causing the problem. The spine is made up of 33 bones or vertebrae, separated into the cervical spine (at neck level), thoracic spine (where your ribs attach), lumbar spine (in your lower back) along with the sacrum and coccyx (tailbone) which are fused together.

The vertebrae are narrow and smaller at the top of your spine (below left), growing thicker and wider towards the bottom of your spine, where they bear more weight (below right). The spinal cord passes through the middle of these vertebrae so that it is protected by the bone on each side.

The Cervical Vertebra (Neck) http://goo.gl/iSXS2

The Lumbar Vertebra (Lower Back) http://goo.gl/X7jpa

In between each vertebra lies a disc. The intervertebral disc (to give it its Sunday name) is made up of a fibrous outer layer, and a jelly-like interior. The disc has lots of nerves supplying it, which means that it is very sensitive to pain.

Each part of your body is supplied by nerves which detect sensations and pass these to your brain to make sense of, and also carry messages from your brain, e.g. to muscles to make them work. At each level of the spinal cord, spinal nerves "peel off" and split into lots of smaller nerves which in turn supply all the different parts in your body, like "electric wires".

At the sides of the vertebrae, there are nicely formed spaces called foramen for the spinal nerves to pass through, so each segment (vertebra, disc and foramen with nerve passing through it) looks a little like this: 

www.spine-inc.com http://goo.gl/Yb1Ho

Ooft. Hands up if you're still with us! Not long to go now...

Each of the vertebrae are attached to one another by a number of ligaments (tough cord-like structures) and the whole of the spinal column is controlled by muscles, which are the only structures that you can voluntarily shorten (or contract). This is important.

Why?

Well, we've covered the basics of what makes up your back. If any of the above structures (bone, ligament, disc, muscle etc) are damaged, it is liable to become painful, therefore you move it less, therefore it stiffens up and becomes weak. If the foramen (the spaces through which the nerves travel) narrow down, then the nerves can become compressed, leading to aches, pains and sometimes tingling or numbness.

So....

You need the muscles, the only contractile thing in your spine, to keep you moving, and reduce the stiffness, which will in turn help reduce your pain. Quite often the damaged structure heals, but the stiffness in the rest of your back remains a problem.

www.imageenvision.com http://goo.gl/dT7ba

Your back loves movement! The more movement there is between all the little joints and for all the bits and pieces in your spine, the better you'll feel. Not least because you're able to sit comfortably, as well as do all those other things you need your back to move for: walking, reaching, vaccuuming, hugging, putting your shoes on, pulling a jumper over your head, cycling, picking up the shopping, twisting to see what's behind you...



Here are some simple exercises that you can do a couple of times a day to help get your back moving. They won't take long, and all you need is a wee space to stretch out into.

Warning: Disclaimer coming up! Remember that the exercises are not a substitute for a professional opinion. Be sensible and seek individual advice from your doctor or physiotherapist if your back pain is severe or lasts longer than a few days or if you have other symptoms like weakness, numbness or pins and needles.


www.physiotools.com

These exercises move your lower back into flexion (bending forwards), extension (bending backwards) and rotation. Each of them can be part of a program to help you maintain your flexibility and movement, as well as strengthening your core to support your spine. This will help ease your pain and most importantly, stop it recurring.

You can also ask your GP or pharmacist about medications such as painkillers or anti-inflammatories which can help settle back pain and let you get back to your normal activities.

6 Top Tips for Improving Your Posture!

Remember being told to "SIT UP STRAIGHT!!" by your mother? ("Brush your hair!" and "Blow your nose!" also featured heavily in my childhood, but we'll just cover the former here).

When you were a wee thing in the assembly hall at school, it was so easy to sit with your arms and legs crossed for - what seemed like - hours upon end without having cramp, and still being able to walk afterwards.

As we get older, and our concentration spans lengthen (in theory anyway), we find ourselves sitting for longer periods of time. We don't feel the need to jump up and down the aisles in the supermarket, or challenge ourselves to stay standing for the whole train journey. Instead, we tend to assume a sitting posture in the morning which we alter only a few times in our day.

Think about it: most of us will travel in to work by vehicle (sitting down), then work at our desk (sitting down), eat (sitting down), go home and watch the television (sitting down).

Are you seeing a pattern here?

The spine loves movement, and your joints will thank you for changes in positioning by not stiffening up. But if you have to sit for long periods of time, make sure you follow these tips for a healthier, more comfortable position:

1 Keep your feet flat on the floor
If you're of a smaller stature, use a footrest and make sure your feet are well supported on a flat surface. Play about with seat height (actually, play about with all the little levers on your seat. You might surprise yourself by how different you feel after even a small change in position).

2 Make sure your thighs are supported
For tall people, whose feet reach the floor no problem but their knees are knocking on the underside of the desk, this is essential. Make sure your seat is deep enough from front to back to support the whole length of your thighs. The bigger your base of support (i.e. the area where your bodyweight is resting on a surface), the better.


3 Keep your back upright and supported
The reason we don't say "keep your back straight" is because that's misleading: your spine has a natural "S" shaped curve to it, and it's this curve that you want to maintain, rather than a striving for a "flat" back.

4-spinal-curvew-adam.jpg

4 Have the top of your monitor at eye level
This will prevent your neck from being strained. Bit of a tricky one with a laptop, but if you can support the screen (even on a very un-fancy box) and use a keyboard at the right height (see number 5) you'll feel much better for it.

5 Make sure your forearms are supported
See number 2! Again, making sure more of the weight of your upper body is supported on the desk means that your shoulders and neck won't have to take the strain of holding your arms up (we're not all The Incredible Hulk with ginormous arms but every little helps!)

6 Move frequently
A-ha! The key here is movement. Even a small change in position can remove stresses from certain areas. The idea is to move every 20 minutes, even if it's to stand up and walk to the window and back, or just to do a wee dance. You might look silly but you'll be walking tall at home time.