Low Back Pain and what you can do to prevent it or treat it

Back injuries are the number one disability for people under age 45. 80% of the population will experience an episode of low back pain at some point in their lives and 5% will go on to develop chronic low back pain. Low back pain accounts for 10% of all chronic health conditions in the United States and 25% of lost days from work. Low back pack has become the most expensive benign health condition in America according to the American Council on Exercise.

At a 25% lost days of work Low Back Pain is a significant variable in the state of our economy at any given time. The more people let their bodies decondition and rot the more vulnerable they are to a low back injury that plagues them for the rest of their life which adds to days lost at work and adds to a worsening economy in addition to a worsening health care system that we already cannot afford as is.

“Back injuries translate into millions of lost work days every year and cost BILLIONS for medical care, disability payments, and legal payments. Reducing back injury rates is a top priority for all employers. In fact, the most common type of workers compensation claim is a back strain / sprain, which accounts for up to 25% of all claims, representing annual payments of $2.5 to $7 billion, including one half of all disability compensation payments annually.” – American Council on Exercise 3rd edition text book.

It’s worth making a note here that considering Low Back Pain costs BILLIONS of dollars for medical care every year, if more of us took care of ourselves our health care system wouldn’t be so broke and unaffordable and that’s just Low Back Pain! An America without obesity for example would save an extra $487 billion dollars each year—enough to hand every American a $4,270 check annually OR that money could go to pay off the national debt which we have not brought back down to zero since the year 1835! But you can read more about that here: http://tombirkenmeyer.blogspot.com/2009/07/if-you-dont-care-about-your-health-get.html

The single largest cause for Low Back Pain is just the simple physical deconditioning of the body. More specifically the back extensors, abdominals, hip flexors, hamstrings, an imbalance of strength and flexibility of the lower back and abdominal muscle groups and poor flexibility in the hamstrings and hip flexor muscles. It sounds complicated but all of those problems can be addressed and prevented with daily physical activity.

In a modern work environment most people have gone from manual labor to sitting on their butts in an office setting all day and without making up for a lack in physical activity with a daily exercise routine. The result is a rotting deconditioning body that over time grows more vulnerable to a low back injury by the day until it inevitably happens. In a seated position the hips are flexed and knees are bent. Since this is the dominant posture by most working people who do not exercise over time this creates a severe muscular and flexibility imbalance between all core muscle groups. The hip flexors become tight and inflexible. The low back muscles become weak. The abdominals become inflexible. The hamstrings become weak. All of these core muscle groups become incapable of handling sudden stress so that when you do make a sudden movement, even something simple like reaching across the table for your light weight cup of coffee or you swat at a fly buzzing around your kitchen window, you strain or sprain something in your low back!

The insidiousness of a rotting deconditioning body is that you get caught completely off guard by what you are and aren’t capable of doing. Maybe just one month ago or one year ago you were able to swat at flies and reach for things across the table just fine but because more time has passed, in which you make daily decisions to continue letting your body rot, that when you do swat at that annoying fly buzzing around the kitchen window today your body is no longer capable and unfortunately you don’t know it until it’s too late because there are no warning signs.

The solution to this potential life time of agony in low back pain is so ridiculously simple. Make decisions every day of your life that make yourself more viable and less vulnerable. If you’re not already physically active every day then add exercise to your daily to do list. Even if it’s just a half hour on most days of the week it can make all the difference in the world if you make it a healthy lifestyle change. Very simple to do yes but also very simple not to do tragically so.


The Arthritis Foundation published some prevention and treatment guidelines for Low Back Pain...

Supervised individual exercise programs of stretching and strengthening improves low back pain by 19 out of a 100 point scale. Avoid sudden twisting or jerking motions. Ideal exercise is working up to 2 1/2 hours of walking, strength training and aerobic exercise. - Arthritis Foundation

Practice daily Yoga! With its gentle moves yoga can be a safe way to stave off Low Back Pain and increase physical activity. Some yoga poses can even be done from a chair. While yoga can improve strength, flexibility, and a sense of well being, it can also help build stronger bones without the jarring and pounding movement of weight bearing exercises that can be difficult or dangerous for people with fragile bones and joints. - Arthritis Foundation  (This would be my personal favorite and realistically the most affective above all other modalities of exercise and treatment!  Consider working with a CERTIFIED Yoga therapist I bet he/she will help you feel better than people without Low back pain if you can imagine that!)

The Arthritis Foundation on bed rest... Studies comparing bed rest to activity for low back pain find that people who stay active have less pain. More than a few days of bed rest can make back pain worse. Rest for a day or two, but more than three days in bed and you risk losing muscle tone, which can make back pain worse. - Arthritis Foundation

I hope this helps all of you who suffer with chronic low back pain.  I equally hope this helps motivate those of you without low back problems to begin preventing it from ever happening starting today EVERY day!  Get a Team Beachbody program.  All of them place a lot of importance, as they should, on conditioning strong and healthy core muscles so you can become more viable in the real world while becoming less vulnerable to injury.  Programs:  http://PassionFitness.info click the "Shop" link.

Tom
Passion For Fitness