by Dr. Benjamin Baker

Created on: September 26, 2010

Back pain can be brutal.  Studies have shown 8 out of 10 Americans will miss work at some point in their lives due to back pain.  Many Americans deal live with chronic back aches and pains on a daily basis.   There are simple changes to ones lifestyle that can help alleviate chronic back pain.  It can become a part of their lives so debilitating they lose control of their lives.  The purpose of this article is to educate how many people can alleviate the chronic discomfort.  Many people go through their lives sitting for the vast majority of the day.  This is often the source of the pain in their back.  It's been said that sitting to your spine is similar to sugar to your teeth.  This is a true statement.  The force put on your lower back and upper thoracic spine is tremendous if you don't sit correctly, take stretch and walk break and if you have underlying issues which cause your back to be weak.

One of the more simple keys I have found to help people alleviate back pain is to get active.  Make sure and get up and walk around for a minute every 30 minutes you sit down.  This will give the body a chance to balance itself out and get the appropriate fluids pumped through your spine and muscles.  Another tip is for people to stay properly hydrated.  Dehydration will cause your intervertebal discs to become less fluid filled and will lead to a decrease in support they have on your spinal joints.  

Stretching can be helpful for those with chronic pain in the backs.  Most Americans have significant muscle imbalances which can cause local swelling in the intervertebral joint capsules.  This will cause radiating pain if the swelling in substantial enough to put pressure on the nerve roots.  This is often what happens when a person describes their back went out on them.  The extreme pain felt is nerve root pain due to pressure placed on the nerve roots coming out of the spinal column.  

Having appropriate posture and work space ergonomics is essential for alleviating low back pain.  The best advice I can give someone with chronic pain is to stay hydrated, have an ergonomic specialist assist in developing the appropriate habitat for you to work, stretching, taking plenty of walk breaks and consulting a health care professional if their pain is substantial enough.

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