Do you experience nagging back pain? A survey by the Consumer Reports Health Ratings Center found that 80% of adults are troubled by periodic back pain and over half suffer severe pain that limits their daily activities for a week or more.
Since treatments for back pain can be difficult – and expensive, it’s best to stay healthy and prevent back pain from occurring in the first place. Here are 4 of the most common triggers of back pain and ways you can avoid them.
Sitting too long. While you might think sitting would relieve back pain, too much time in front of your computer or the TV can damage your back. Compared to standing, sitting puts 40% more pressure on the discs in your lower back. And if you slouch or hunch over while you’re seated, that puts even more stress on the discs, ligaments and joints in your back. To get pain relief:
- Set up your workstation so you maintain a 90-degree angle between your upper body and hips, and a 90-degree angle between your knees and the floor.
- Sit in a firmer chair that provides more support for your spine.
- Stand and stretch every 30 minutes.
- Do shoulder and neck exercises to relax muscles.
Carrying a heavy purse or bag. When you’re weighted down too much on one side, your body is pulled into an asymmetrical posture, which makes it harder for you to stay balanced. To get pain relief:
- Never carry more than 20% of your body weight.
- Don’t overfill purses or bags.
- Alternate sides when carrying purses or bags.
- Use a backpack instead to tote your things since the weight will be more evenly distributed across your back.
Lifting grocery bags. When you overfill bags, you’re lifting more weight than your back can handle. The same thing if you carry more than one bag at a time. To get pain relief:
- Don’t carry plastic bags all on one arm at a time.
- When lifting bags, slide the bag toward your body, bend with your hips and knees, lean in and lift.
- Use your whole body to turn away from the car, so you’re not twisting your back.
Poor posture. When you slouch, hunch or tilt to one side, you put added stress on the muscles, ligaments and vertebrae in your back. This action can compress the discs in your spine. To get pain relief:
- Do exercises to build abdominal stability and strength.
- Check your posture throughout the day. Make sure your ears, shoulders, hips, knees and ankles are all in a straight line.
ezWalker® Custom Orthotics Can Help Relieve Back Pain
If you have chronic back pain, ezWalker® Custom Performance Orthotics are biomechanically designed to properly support the arches of your feet and redistribute your body weight evenly over both of your feet. Your whole body will be positioned into proper alignment. These custom arch supports correct your stance by placing your feet into a more optimally controlled position. Pain and pressure caused from an incorrect gait cycle will be eliminated. With ezWalker® Custom Orthotics, your feet are guided from lateral heel to medial forefoot – the correct motions of the gait cycle. So, you’ll experience pain relief and comfort throughout your whole body.
Have a better step (with less or no back pain) with each step you take. Order your ezWalker® Custom Performance Orthotics today!
Because … when your feet feel good, you feel good.®
