The tension on the back

Fingers are tingling and slowly making their way down to your toes. They are sliding past the knees and inching like a caterpillar. They are almost there and suddenly your whole body tenses up. You then jolt as quickly as a lightning bolt and grab your back while arching like a cactus has been thrown at you. Most people believe that back pain is the result from lifting something heavy or a dramatic injury that they suffered. This indeed is true, but there are many other aspects that can cause back problems. Three common ways people develop back problems include: sleeping, sitting, and exercising, if not done properly. 

First off, sleeping. There are multiple sleeping positions and one of them is sleeping on the stomach. The tension on the back may become unbearable. The spine possesses a natural curve and when a person sleeps on the stomach, it flattens out that curve and puts additional strains on the back muscles. In addition, the area around your neck and upper back may be sore as well since your neck is turned to the side all night while sleeping in this position. Another common daily activity that we all do it sit. Besides sleeping, sitting can also lead to back problems.

Sitting is something that we do the majority of the day. People sit when they are driving, waiting at the doctor’s office, or at meetings. Studies shows that sitting puts 40% more strain on your back than standing. When sitting for a long period of time, the back will lose lubrication and age quicker due to inactive joints. It is important to have a straight posture without slouching. Good back support such as ergonomic chairs are recommended to reduce the possibility of developing back problems. When sitting, the lower back should be supported while keeping the head straight rather than lurching forward. It is healthy to get up every half hour to stretch. Comparatively, exercising can be as dangerous as sleeping and sitting. 

Everyone has been told that exercising is vital to maintain a healthy body. Most definitely exercise does wonders, but doing it improperly will also cause destruction. For example, many people nowadays exercise with heavy weight lifting. Weight lifting builds muscles to support the back and cushions joints, but when someone decides to train without previous experience, there will be consequences. When trying to lift weights that are greater than what one can handle, it strains the back to an amount where the back muscles can be pulled. In addition to lifting excess weights, the wrong form will also create pain. In demonstrations, when dead weight lifting, if one’s form is incorrect, the muscles may tear and rip due to the tension. A problem that people face while dead weight lifting is that they tend to round their back rather than keeping it straight. This curves the spine more than needed and can cause severe tensions. Although these back problems sound horrendous, but have no fear, there are ways to help prevent chronic back problems from occurring.