I woke up with low back pain this morning. I’m not sure what happened, because I haven’t done anything that I can think of. What do you think the cause might be?
Neck and low back pain are two of the most common issues that my patients encounter. I would want to cover the patient’s extensive history to figure out what might have caused the problem. Patients are often frustrated, because they have no idea what could have caused their pain. They do not recall doing anything strenuous in the recent past, so it is bewildering.
Many times, the cause of neck or low back pain is not a single event – it is more of a cumulative trauma. It is usually a combination of what someone has been doing for a large portion of their adult life, along with many things that they haven’t done, as well.
Our posture will suffer from sitting at a desk all day, hunching over while driving, and then sitting down to watch TV. We repeat these same habits on a daily basis. Along with this, we tend not to get enough exercise. To compound the issue further, we may end up sleeping in an awkward position, causing a strain to develop. After all of these habits are combined over a long period of time, patients will end up with a mechanical problem such as a sprain, strain, or general neck/low back pain. In these cases, the issue is not attributable to a single event, but is instead a combination of sustained bad habits.
I also commonly hear from patients that throw their back out while putting on their socks and shoes. In fact, I recently saw a healthy, fit young man in his early thirties with this problem. How can a healthy, active young man throw his back out in this manner? It occurs because of a combination of several small factors.
Sitting for extended periods causes weakness in the glutes, tightness in the hips, and instability in the low back. Shortly after waking up, discs are slightly swollen or inflamed, along with not being warmed up. Those issues, combined with bending over, can result in serious disc issues from simply attempting to put socks and shoes on. Women have also had their backs go out while shaving their legs in the shower without any prior history of injury.
The older we get, the less mobile we become. As we start to develop flexibility or mobility issues, we will begin to compensate. Those compensations will eventually lead to injury. Additionally, we may have muscle weakness that could be mitigated by performing simple exercises to strengthen the core or activate muscles in the neck.
Patients may be intimidated due to thinking they lack the time to do those exercises, or thinking they will need special equipment. This is not the case – it takes less than ten minutes a day, and simple stretching or core exercises require no special equipment. Easily implemented lifestyle changes related to posture and exercise can prevent dreaded pain from occurring in the future.
If you would like to learn more about preventing neck and low back pain, contact the team at Tulsa Spine and Rehab at (918) 743-3737.
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