Important Back Care Reminders

As you probably already know, the causes and treatment options for back pain are remarkably complicated - with this newsletter we hope to make it easy for you to stay informed and up to date on different types of effective back care.

Sit comfortably

Sitting creates a lot of stress on your spine, but the right setup can help you stay comfortable - make sure your knees are slightly higher than your hips, push your chair right up to the desk, support your arms with armrests…these and other adjustments can help your back feel much better after long periods of sitting. See Reducing back pain while sitting in office chairs and Choosing the right ergonomic office chair.

Good body mechanics

Pushing is easier on your back than pulling, pivot with your feet instead of twisting while lifting, keep heavy loads close to your body…these and other pointers will help you avoid injuring your discs and spine. We encourage you to take time to learn how to prevent a painful back injury with proper back support. See Ergonomics and good posture at work.

Fine-tune your exercises

If you feel worse after exercising, there may be just one or two exercises in your routine that are aggravating your condition. Or perhaps you need to do some of the exercises with a different form or more support. If needed, please discuss how to adjust your exercise program with your doctor or therapist. See Rehabilitation and exercise for a healthy back and Back exercise and fitness for back pain relief.

Try a different back pain medication

A medication may have intolerable side effects for you but not for someone else, or may be much more or less effective. Also, some approaches to taking the back pain medication - pills, injections, patches - may work better for you than others. To find what works best for you, talk to your doctor about all of your alternatives. See Medications for back pain and neck pain.

Care for your emotions

Your mental attitude is actually quite important and can play a key role in managing your condition and the level of your back pain. Stress can make pain much worse and prolong it, and alleviating stress - through imagery, meditation and other techniques - can lessen the pain, help you sleep better, etc. See Effective coping strategies for chronic back pain.

As always, we hope that this information helps you better understand and find appropriate treatment for your condition.

Best wishes,
Peter F. Ullrich, Jr., M.D., Medical Director
Stephanie Burke, President
Spine-health.com

About the Spine-health.com Newsletter: Each issue of the Spine-health.com newsletter, SpineNews Update, is written by the founders of Spine-health.com - Peter F. Ullrich, Jr., M.D., Medical Director for Spine-health.com and Stephanie Burke, President of Spine-health.com. The content in the newsletters is not peer reviewed by Spine-health.com’s Medical Advisory Board. The articles to which the Spine-health.com newsletters link have been peer reviewed by members of the Medical Advisory Board.