by Lorraine Sears

Created on: February 21, 2011

Your back is a fantastic piece of natural, evolutionary engineering.  It gives you strength, flexibility and movement, and supports the single heaviest part of your body - your head.  With the back playing such a vital role in our everyday activities it can be debilitating if we injure it. 

Not surprisingly back pain is one of the most common causes of pain and discomfort among adults.  Either because we don’t know how to look after it properly or because we choose to ignore the warning signs our body gives us. 

At the centre of the back is the spine, made up of several vertebrae which are linked by soft tissue discs.  The discs have a consistency similar to toothpaste.  A ‘slipped disc’ is when one of these discs between the vertebrae has bulged out through injury or strain.

Sometimes this bulge can press on nerves and cause pain in other parts of the body, most commonly the legs.  It can be very painful and in extreme cases it can last for several months.

How our back can be affected - We rely on our back for every move we make, and conversely, every move we make can affect our back.  From the bed we sleep to the chairs we sit in and even the shoes on our feet, anything and everything can impact your back.

For instance, most people believe that a firm mattress gives the back the best support when we sleep.  But the recent medical research shows that a medium-firm mattress is actually best.

Think about how many different sorts of chair you sit in throughout the day.  A dining chair, a car seat, do you use public transport, what sort of seats do they have?  Do sit down for your job?  What about relaxing in the evening, are you on a sofa or in a reclining armchair?  When you sit down for any significant period, the chair you use needs to support you upper and lower back as well as providing adequate support for you bottom and upper thighs. 

What about our shoes?  Although barefoot is natural, studies show that flat shoes such as ballet pumps and flip flops force us to tense our feet as we try to keep them on, putting additional strain on our back.  When it comes to footwear not too high and not too low is best.  For men and women a heel of about an inch is actually most beneficial. 

And you’re not getting off lightly if you spend a lot of time in trainers or tennis shoes and think this is okay.  This type of footwear is designed for active

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