Five quick fixes for back pain

by Jonathon Morgan (Subscribe to Jonathon Morgan's posts)
Apr 17th 2007 2:33PM

As I described at length in a post on our partner blog, ParentDish, my parenting exploits have left me in a little pain these last few days. Apparently this is pretty common, as nearly 80 percent of Americans suffer back pain at some point in their lives. While this may come as no surprise, I was interested to learn that most soreness or spasms are triggered by seemingly innocuous, everyday activities.

Here's five simple, straightforward tips to help rid yourself of that discomfort.

1. Good posture is important, but you don't need to stand like a soldier -- this actually puts pressure on the spine instead of relieving it. Instead focus on being relaxed, and balanced.
2. Get corrective insoles to make sure your foot has the proper arch while walking.
3. Once you've achieved proper posture, talk a walk -- studies show this can relieve back pain.
4. Switch shoulders for your backpack, bag, etc -- even if it feels weird.
5. Take more breaks -- especially if you have a job that keeps you seated all day. Doctors recommend getting up and moving around every 45 to 60 minutes to prevent strain.

For more explanation, check out Alicia Porter's helpful article on Health.com.

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Comments (20)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Mike 4-23-2007 @ 6:34PM

Another great tip for back pain is to do pilates. I went from having back pain every morning, and after any strenuous exercise, to no pain at all after just 10-15 sessions of pilates. Now, after doing it for a year, I regularly walk 18 holes carrying my bag, at age 35, with no back pain the next day.

michele 4-23-2007 @ 3:44PM

Another fix. Doctors have found in the 1990's that weak abdominal muscles can also cause lower back pain. Sit ups, crunches and curls can help if the pain is not caused by a spinal injury. If so, consult a qualified doctor.

Dave 4-23-2007 @ 4:33PM

Back pain is best addressed by a good Chiropractor. Studies have shown manipulation is superior to all other treatment methods for both acute and chronic pain. Back pain is an epidemic, and lost time from work and chronic disabling pain is resulting from the attitude that people can "deal with it on their own" or by taking medication that covers up the problem. Worse, sometimes this medicine causes new problems on top of the back pain.

Frank 4-23-2007 @ 4:40PM

One other way to relieve back pain, find a nice strong branch or something, just a bout an inch higher than you can normaly reach, and hang from it for a while. This will stretch your back/spine, relieving any pressure on your spine. When you let go, ease off the limb, do not just drop off. I do this all the time, when my back gets hurting, and it does help.

Natalie Shurtleff 4-23-2007 @ 4:55PM

A long time ago, a chiropractor who specialized in sports
medicine gave me this exercise for my back. Lying flat
bring the knees up and place one leg against the other.
Use resistance in both legs..i.e.; press down with the top
leg and up with the bottom leg. Do it to the count of 5
about 4-5 times on each leg. It works well and I never
get back pains any more. I do it before I rise in the morning and can spring out of bed easily...(I'm 82).

Kelly 4-23-2007 @ 5:22PM

I have a gravity lounger that helps a LOT. I also have started receiving Botox shots in my lower back. It really does help !!

Terijo 4-23-2007 @ 5:50PM

STRETCH - (try and touch your toes, just sorta "hang" there) when you first wake up, or before doing anything strenuous. Swimming and a whirlpool also help greatly!

Thepugpieper 4-23-2007 @ 5:36PM

Sorry, this isn't new news...

Lose weight, 5 pounds extra makes a big difference.
Abdominal muscles are important...exercise that area will help more...

Lastly...I say AVOID CHIROPRACTORS... in my opinion, all I see are people who go, feel good for a short while, then are in worse pain, only to keep repeating visits...nobody I know can say a chiropractor fixed them for good.

Think about it, by forcing the spine back in place should cause just as much damage as it being knocked out of place to begin with. Heck maybe even more damage.

Virginia 4-23-2007 @ 5:59PM

I have been a chiropractic patient for 30 years following a severe car accident and have been able to maintain a healthy lifestyle and avoid surgery that had been recommended. Chiropractic is a valid option for those with back pain whether acute or chronic. Not everyone likes to take medication, and true it is not a "cure", once the body has had damage, there are no replacement parts and we have to deal with the ones we have! I for one am thankful for the opportunity to seek healthcare from a qualified provider and one who doesn't think that medication and surgery are the only ways to take care of a spinal condition.

Rosemary Simm 4-23-2007 @ 6:39PM

I have two huge herniated discs in my lower back. My sports medicine doctor asked me if I would try acupuncture to help with my pain. I cannot discribe the decrease of pain I soon achieved, and the medicines for pain and muscle spasms were gradually stopped. The needles, so thin, felt like a mosquito bite. This is modern medicine working with the old-time practices, at their best level.

Heather 4-23-2007 @ 6:31PM

Thepugpieper (# 6) is entitled to his opinion. However, seeing as how he is clealry not a doctor, and knows nothing about what chiropractic is or how it works, he shoulld refrain from advising people about when it is or is not appropriate to see a chiropractor. Ignorance is bliss I guess, but condemnation without proper investigation is the greatest form of ignorance on this planet.

RPRMBLR 4-23-2007 @ 6:41PM

Bravo Virginia

I have been to a chiropractor for 14 years, from whiplash injuries in a car accident. The Chiropractor sure
does help me. Have been getting some pains in lower back and sciatic nerve socket and helps that to.

Dick 4-23-2007 @ 7:05PM

My Doctor was Hans Kraus who was also JFK's advisor. Tight Hamstrings and weak abdominals are the major cause of most back pain. Stretch the hams and do the crunches and visit Dr. Norman Marcus' Pain Clinic website. This is invaluable advice.

Karen 4-23-2007 @ 7:32PM

Go to Powerposture.com and check it out! My posture, and therefore my upper back/neck/shoulder pain is finally beginning to subside! Posture is important, and we all know to stand up straight, but to do it naturally without strengthening the muscles responsible for good posture works only while you are conscioiusly thinking of it. And boy, sitting at the computer all day is a real killer! Good luck, and check out that site!

me4477ow 4-23-2007 @ 8:18PM

I have 3 areas in my spine that are severely deteriorated, with compression on my spinal cord, both vertical and horizontal, and on nerves that control my arms and hands and nerves that run all the way down my legs. I also have Fibromyalgia disease. When I first met Dr. Tom, my chiropractor, I could hardly walk and had numbness in my hands , I had no grip and little strength. I was in so much pain I wanted to die. Before long Dr. Tom had me working for him part time. I had thought I would never work again.
Chiropactic isn't an overnight fix for most people. You can't get one adjustment and be well if you have had problems for a long time. Most patients wait to come after they have tried everything else. Their bones have been out of alignment for some time, possibly years. You can't shove the bones back all at once and even if you could they would not stay because your muscles have tightened up around them. So it takes time and treatment to get the bones back where they belong to stay. Someone with problems like mine that can't be repaired can go to the chiropractor on a regular basis to keep the spine in alignment to reduce the pain,pressure on nerves and muscle spasms due to muscles being stretched by a crooked or twisted spine.
Decompression tables muscle stimulation, massage, ultrasound and other treatments are part of the treatment. These things help to reduce the pain and loosen muscles to make them easier to adjust.
During your treatment plan you will come in and out of pain due to the movement of the bones. But I promise you that a good chiropractor can make a huge difference in your pain if you just stick with the treatment plan.
If you hurt your back, don't wait, find a good chiropractor as soon as possible.
I will always have pain, but with chiropractic and exercise I have my life back.

Kathy 4-23-2007 @ 8:28PM

Well Heather(#9) Ignorance must be Bliss!
I do know what I am talking about, as I had an Aunt who was a doctor. She told me, that Chiropractic manipulation is Not for everyone! I went to one years ago, & ended up in the emergency room a few hours later. The pain was so severe I couldn't bare it. The manipulation was far too much & caused more irritation & inflammation!
However, he told me this would change if I came back a few more times. I continued to go,5 days a week, at $46.00 a pop! This went on for 4 weeks! ($920.00)
I Did Not get ANY Results! It was a terrible experience!
That was 22 years ago,& I still suffer periodically with 2
bulging discs in my lumbar region. I have 2 problem discs in my Thoracic spine as well. I have also had surgery on my cervical spine in 1997, for 3 ruptured discs.
The treatment I use now, when it gets Bad, is to get a pack of steroid pills from the doctor, that lasts for 1 week. I also take either Tylenol or some other form of pain medication, depending on how bad the flare up is. I rest it as much as possible, & try my best to get through it.
MY POINT IS: Some people's condition is worse then others, so the treatment cannot always be the same!
As for #6 giving advice, or his Opinion... Isn't that what everyone here has done? Why should he be singled out by you? Maybe because you didn't agree??
This is still AMERICA!

Kat 4-24-2007 @ 9:20AM

A long time ago I wrote copy for a series of textbooks for orthopedic surgeons. One of the books gave outcomes data for various approaches to back pain -- surgery, chiropractic, physical therapy, acupuncture, and yoga. Amazingly enough, yoga was the most successful of all these approaches.

Even knowing this, I remained sedentary and one day found myself in excruciating back pain. After trying physical therapy, chiropractic, and acupuncture with no success, I went to an orthopedic surgeon. He recommended disc surgery, I had it, and my back got worse. I had to switch from full-time to half-time work and went on full-time painkillers.

Five days away from a scheduled second disc surgery, I decided to get a second opinion. The neurologist I saw looked at my before and after surgery x-rays and gave his opinion -- I had never really needed surgery in the first place. Swell. I was still in horrible pain, however, so he sent me to a pain clinic, and the doctor there put me on a low dose of methadone, which was a good choice for me, enabling me over the course of the next year to return to work full-time and even go back to the gym for short, easy, and careful workouts. Eventually I went off methadone, too, and took just occasional tylenol, but I continued to feel pings and zips in my back that never let me forget that my next go-round with back pain could happen any time.

FINALLY I decided to try yoga. I went on Amazon and searched under "yoga dvd" for recommended titles. A couple by the name of Ravi Singh and Ana Brett had a series of programs that were incredibly highly reviewed by hundreds of people, so I ordered one. Five days later I got my first dvd in the mail. That was a year and a half ago, and I have never had any pain since then. I'm 56 years old and more flexible than I have been since I was a teenager. And happier, more stable, and confident, too.

The "quick fixes" in this article are good, but they are just fixes. Yoga can give you a healthy back (and healthy front, too) that doesn't need fixing. Don't wait until your back is making you so miserable that you are at the mercy of a doctor who believes that surgery is the only answer.

Sherry 4-23-2007 @ 10:13PM

While I don't care to grow vicious as at least one of the respondants have, I do have a viewpoint on the topic of bone/joint/back issues. After 25 years of suffering with ruptures, bulges, osteophytes, decompressive laminectomies, fusions, etc. I feel that I AM qualified as a chronic sufferer of back illness.

I personally believe that there are two perspectives at hand: people with back 'conditions' and people with back 'injury/illnesses'. Perhaps some of the readers can't discern between the two; however, I believe those with back injury/illness can. An injury or an illness needs a medical treatment which will assist in the abatement of the problem and the accompanying pain of the progression of the illness.

If you have overworked muscles, aching joints, bursitis, tendinitis, all these painful conditions may be relieved by a chiropractor. And, no, I'm not certified by the AMA, but then chiros aren't full-fledged physicians either. They are trained in the manipulation of muscles and some holistic medical techniques. My opinion is that they are not as thoroughly educated on the diseases of the bone, the joint, the back, the neck, else, they would have become neuros themselves.

And, perhaps some of the chiro patients who have thrown around the word "ignorant" as if it were an insult (it simply means "unknowing"), you should consider what you don't know about neurosurgeons and realize that they don't arbitrarily sit down, pass out narcotics, then schedule you for a major surgery--it just doesn't work that way.

Neurosurgeons by whom I have been evaluated have often NOT recommended surgery; instead, I've endured the same modalities as those aforementioned: ultrasound, heat/ice, mechanical traction, therapeutic massage, trigger-point injections under x-ray, learning how to adapt my gait, changing shoes, hard-shell braces...you name it--I've been a guinea pig for it.

And, I suppose if I had a chiro on my payroll, I would’ve taken the con-chiro comments personally as you did. I myself cannot imagine making a chiro OR a neuro a part of my personal budget. Sixteen or thirty years is longer than what my mortgage runs!

The bottom line seems to be this: we all have a role in healing ourselves. We all have our own perception of how “sick” our bodies are and how we think best to have them “healed”. Which ever choice you make—chiro or neuro—is this: "proceed with caution" because either way, you could become seriously injured or paralyzed for life OR simply pay endlessly and never really have anything to show for it but emotional satiation.

RPh 4-23-2007 @ 11:20PM

DRUGS... Without non-specific back pain our prescription junkies could not score their narcotics and that would throw our entire economy out of order.. RPh

steven 6-03-2007 @ 6:23PM

Abdominal and back muscles don't get exercised very much during our everyday activities (not like the leg muscles do), but is very important to have strong abs and back muscles to prevent or help lessen low back pain. I read the best articles about this on http://www.spine-health.com. That site really stresses exercise, but also has information on surgery, medications, chiropractic, self-help and more. Other sites seem to have a point of view and are trying to get you to think one way, but that site presents all the treatments and gives you the information to make a decision and discuss with your dr.
To Kat above, sorry you had to go through all that. Good for you for continuing to figure out what would work until you found something!