News You Can Use
Bending into shape helps prevent lower back pain
University Relations
News Bureau (662) 325-3442
Contact: Pam McTeer
Feb. 4, 2005
STARKVILLE, Miss.—Exercise is good for your heart, but did you know it’s also good for your lower back?
Staying in shape is the best way to prevent lower back pain, says Ben Abadie, a Mississippi State University kinesiology professor. Back pain often results from the abnormal curvature of the spinal cord, which causes stress and inflammation of surrounding muscles.
“Anytime the spinal cord doesn’t have its normal curvature, you’re going to have (back) stress,” he explains. “The general thing to do is to increase muscular strength universally and increase flexibility.
“It’s all very interrelated,” he adds. “Your abdominal muscles support the spinal cord and if the abdominal muscles are weak, it causes the spinal cord to bend abnormally.”
Abadie says persons who are overweight, stand for prolonged periods of time and sleep on their back often are candidates for lower back pain. Other causes include:
—Poor muscle strength, especially in the abdominal and back muscles, and poor muscular flexibility, especially in the hip flexors and hamstrings.
—Poor lifting techniques.
—Poor posture.
To deal with these situations, he suggests losing excess weight, occasionally flexing knees and shifting body weight during long standings, and sleeping on either side as much as possible.
As for the other corrective actions, he recommends:
—Keeping the back and shoulders straight, holding heavy items close to the body and utilizing leg rather than back muscles when lifting.
—Sitting with the knees above the hips and not hunching or overarching the back when standing.
Abadie also suggests consulting a physical therapist or health fitness instructor for exercises that can be used to strengthen the lower back.