Back Pain Tips

Though there are many causes of lower back pain, the culprit is often tight and weak pelvic and trunk muscles. Many people who suffer from back pain worry that exercise could make the pain worse. It doesn't have to as long as your not too aggressive and don't overdo it.

Everyone agrees that low back pain has become an epidemic and is a huge problem in the United States. You can expect that eight out of ten people will experience back pain at some point in their lifetime. Were you aware that lower back pain makes up 20% and 25% of the total number of medical claims and exceeds $34 billion in annual direct medical costs. And for a lot of people who suffer low back pain getting the problem diagnosed and then treated in an effectective way is a challenge in itself.

Many start by going to physical rehab. If its a work related injury, they may go to a doctor of occupational medicine. Or, they might go to a physiatrist who specializes in physical medicine and rehabilitation. If all diagnostic tests, such as an MRI come back negative and they don't show that anything is wrong, generally, the cycle starts all over again. Many are so frustrated and painful they find themselves talking to a neuro- or orthopedic surgeon.

It seems, with the majority of people, back pain can cause them not want to exercise because of discomfort. And, with many people they fear that they will cause greater injuryto their back. But, its a catch-22 situation. This lack of activity can cause back muscles to become tight and "de-conditioned," or weak. This is turn sets up the perfect conditions for even more pain.

But, when you exercise in a gentle, integrated, fashion can help relieve and prevent this tightening and weakening. Most people think of exercising as boot camp and think that it needs to be rigorous to be beneficial. This is not the case with debilitating low back pain. Exercising too much or too aggressively will generally increase the back pain and cause more of the same.

With the term "integrated exercise", we mean that its more than just "going through the motions". Another common misperception of exercise is that it is only "lifting weight" or "running on the treadmill". And, even if you are doing those specific activities, its more beneficial for the person exercising if they practice more awareness with the activity.

With practicing awareness while exercising, a person can assess the quality of the activity and the level of their participation with it. As they do this they are better able to determine whether they can continue with the activity or need to stop. Awareness lets you evaluate your status in order to make the correct judgement about how you are responding to the exercise.

There are three things that anyone who is exercising to relieve back pain should be aware of.
The first one is the level of pain or discomfort they are having during the activity. If you are exercising, you should expect a degree of discomfort, but pain should be avoided at all costs.

The second one is the quality of the Movement of the body while doing the activity. Is
it stiff? Is there a specific part that has more discomfort than others? Ask yourself, "am I doing this exercise in the most efficient way? These are all questions that relate to how the person is moving.

And, the third one is people should be aware of how they are breathing. The muscles need
oxygen to function effectively and for use to move efficiently. In general, people who
have pain will hold their breath as they do and activity in anticipation of having pain. As people hold their breath with activity, they will generally experience more pain because their muscles are not getting the proper amount of oxygen to do the exercise. Because of this many people get frustrated with physical therapy and exercise and feel that its not beneficial.

When you exercise in that manner your are using integrated exercise. If done with proper
breathing, postures and movements, any activity does all of that. You can have all of the elements of a good exercise program and maybe eliminate your back pain.