Most of the time, back pain can easily be relieved by taking better care of your body and paying more attention to what you are doing physically. A lot of times taking better care of yourself requires changes to your routine. The important thing is that you make the effort to make the change if you really are motivated to. Here are six tips for protecting your back when you are a parent.
1. Relax More
Relaxing after strenuous work will give your back muscles a chance to heal. Rigorous work can include many things that require the use of your back muscles, including sitting for long periods of time. As you sit you are putting a lot of pressure on your spinal disks because your other supportive muscles relax too much.
To resolve this you need to be able to make more time to relax by taking a break from sitting. The best method for this is to take a daily nap on a great mattress that is designed specifically for back pain (at least that's what you should tell your partner and your kids!). When you lay on the best mattress for back pain, you’ll instantly feel relief and won’t have to worry about your back pain getting worse while sleeping.
2. Stretch
Believe it or not, your hips play a major role in the amount of back pain you experience. However, stretching your gluteal muscles regularly will help to alleviate the pain that you experience. Your gluteal muscles are not only found on your behind but in your hips as well.
One great stretch that you can perform daily is to lay on the floor and pull both knees to your chest, holding for a few seconds. This stretch will keep your hips loose and the more they are moved, the better your back will feel.
3. Exercise More
Now that your glutes are nice and limber, you want to make sure that they are strong too. One exercise you can get good results with is squats. You don’t need to do a full squat at 90 degrees; just an angle of 20-degrees is enough to stretch and strengthen.
You can also do a "sit and stand" exercise. This consists of you sitting on an edge and using only your legs to stand. As you do this a few times a day, you will see improvements in your strength in a short amount of time.
Another exercise that helps is to balance on one leg. As you balance, keep your pelvis level. This balance will improve your side glutes while your balance is enhanced.
4. Don’t Focus on Posture
Focusing on improving your posture has not been shown to decrease the amount of back pain experienced. Plus, if you tell a person that they need to sit up straight, chances are they won’t be able to for very long.
However, when you build back muscle strength, you can sit up straight for as long as you want with no problem.
5. Walk Every Daily
When you take a walk every day, you are doing your back a great favour as well as your entire body. Walking allows you to maintain your posture while relieving spine pressure.
Walking also decreases the stress on your spine. Although standing is considered to be better for your back, you need to limit the length of time because too much standing in one place can also cause stress.
6. Reduce Your Stress
When you are stressed, your muscles automatically tighten throughout your body, including in your back. This tightening ultimately shortens your muscles and your back pays the price because of the decreased support. Plus, your perceived pain level will increase as you become more sensitive to pain.
It is obvious that when you feel stressed, you increase your chances of feeling pain in your back. If you currently experience pain, then you will likely feel an increased amount throughout the day and into the night as you sleep. Keeping your mind off of the pain will help to decrease the pain too because your brain is ultimately in control of your entire body’s pain receptors.
1. Relax More
Relaxing after strenuous work will give your back muscles a chance to heal. Rigorous work can include many things that require the use of your back muscles, including sitting for long periods of time. As you sit you are putting a lot of pressure on your spinal disks because your other supportive muscles relax too much.
To resolve this you need to be able to make more time to relax by taking a break from sitting. The best method for this is to take a daily nap on a great mattress that is designed specifically for back pain (at least that's what you should tell your partner and your kids!). When you lay on the best mattress for back pain, you’ll instantly feel relief and won’t have to worry about your back pain getting worse while sleeping.
2. Stretch
Believe it or not, your hips play a major role in the amount of back pain you experience. However, stretching your gluteal muscles regularly will help to alleviate the pain that you experience. Your gluteal muscles are not only found on your behind but in your hips as well.
One great stretch that you can perform daily is to lay on the floor and pull both knees to your chest, holding for a few seconds. This stretch will keep your hips loose and the more they are moved, the better your back will feel.
3. Exercise More
Now that your glutes are nice and limber, you want to make sure that they are strong too. One exercise you can get good results with is squats. You don’t need to do a full squat at 90 degrees; just an angle of 20-degrees is enough to stretch and strengthen.
You can also do a "sit and stand" exercise. This consists of you sitting on an edge and using only your legs to stand. As you do this a few times a day, you will see improvements in your strength in a short amount of time.
Another exercise that helps is to balance on one leg. As you balance, keep your pelvis level. This balance will improve your side glutes while your balance is enhanced.
4. Don’t Focus on Posture
Focusing on improving your posture has not been shown to decrease the amount of back pain experienced. Plus, if you tell a person that they need to sit up straight, chances are they won’t be able to for very long.
However, when you build back muscle strength, you can sit up straight for as long as you want with no problem.
5. Walk Every Daily
When you take a walk every day, you are doing your back a great favour as well as your entire body. Walking allows you to maintain your posture while relieving spine pressure.
Walking also decreases the stress on your spine. Although standing is considered to be better for your back, you need to limit the length of time because too much standing in one place can also cause stress.
6. Reduce Your Stress
When you are stressed, your muscles automatically tighten throughout your body, including in your back. This tightening ultimately shortens your muscles and your back pays the price because of the decreased support. Plus, your perceived pain level will increase as you become more sensitive to pain.
It is obvious that when you feel stressed, you increase your chances of feeling pain in your back. If you currently experience pain, then you will likely feel an increased amount throughout the day and into the night as you sleep. Keeping your mind off of the pain will help to decrease the pain too because your brain is ultimately in control of your entire body’s pain receptors.
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