According to World Health Organization, in the US alone, almost 80% of people are at risk of developing back pain at some point. Additionally, research states that around 50% of those are due to posture-related issues.
You might wonder why posture contributes significantly to chronic back pain. Well, for starters, how you sit, stand and lay down directly affects your spine. The backbone supports your body; any misalignment or added stress can cause lower back pain.
Here's how sitting upright can help you relieve your lumbar spine pinching sensation!
Here we will discuss the following:
- Understanding Posture and its Effects on Back Pain
- Causes of Poor Posture and Back Pain
- Sedentary Lifestyle
- Bad Sleeping Habits
- Stress and Tension
- Medical Conditions
- Obesity
- How to Improve Posture and Alleviate Back Pain?
Understanding Posture and its Effects on Back Pain
Posture refers to the body's position while standing, sitting, or lying down. A good posture means keeping your spine neutral, which ensures even weight distribution and efficient movement of your muscles, bones, and joints.
Conversely, poor posture places unnecessary strain on these structures, leading to pain and discomfort. There’s a direct link between posture and lower back pain. Posture can affect back pain in the following ways:
1. Muscle Strain
Bad posture can cause the muscles in your back to overwork, leading to fatigue, soreness, and pain, which causes strain on your muscles.
2. Spinal Misalignment
Having poor posture can cause misalignment of your spine, which can put pressure on your nerves and cause pain.
3. Disc problems
When your posture is uneven, your spinal discs can become compressed, resulting in herniated discs or other problems.
4. Joint Problems
Poor posture can cause your joints to become misaligned, leading to pain and discomfort.
Good posture, on the other hand, prevents and minimises lower back pain by maintaining neutral spinal alignment and distributing your weight evenly.
By maintaining good posture, you can lessen the strain on your muscles, bones, and joints, which can help to soothe aches. Additionally, it keeps the spine healthy for a long time.
Causes of Poor Posture and Back Pain
Believe it or not, the leading cause of lower back pain due to posture is slouching.
A study published in the Annals of Rehabilitation Medicine states that poor posture is a significant cause of back pain. The study concluded that over 60% of participants with poor posture reported back pain issues compared to only 37% with good posture.
Sitting by bending forward puts unnecessary strain on the back muscles, which eventually causes pain and numbness. Therefore, bad posture is a big culprit of back-related issues.
However, it’s not the only reason one may suffer lower back pain. Sometimes your daily lifestyle and other medical conditions also cause raging pain in the back. Some of the other reasons for that include:
▪️ Sedentary Lifestyle
How you live your life and perform everyday activities also contributes significantly to back pain. For example, sitting for long working hours can strain your back excessively, weakening muscles. This, in turn, causes bad posture and back pain.
Additionally, sitting in a reclined position for too long can cause spinal misalignment. It can cause lower back pain and other significant conditions like disc slip and pinched nerves.
▪️ Bad Sleeping Habits
Sleeping habits and lying posture can also contribute to posture and back issues. For instance, if you’re a stomach sleeper, it may cause your neck to bend and mess with the spine's natural curve.
Sleeping on uneven surfaces or using the wrong pillow can also put excess strain on the neck and spine, which later causes back issues.
▪️ Stress and Tension
Stress or tension may cause back pain because it stiffens your neck, shoulder, and back muscles. Over time, this can cause muscle imbalances and mess up your posture.
Additionally, you’re less likely to move around and stretch when tense. The lack of mobility is a huge factor in making the muscles stiff and immobile, eventually leading to posture issues and lower back pain.
▪️ Medical Conditions
Bad posture and lower back pain are not always due to external factors. Some medical conditions, like arthritis, scoliosis, osteoporosis, etc., can also affect your posture and muscle flexibility.
Moreover, an injury or strain to the muscle can also cause back pain in individuals.
▪️ Obesity
Your body is designed to distribute the mass evenly among all the significant structures. However, a lot of weight gain and obesity can disrupt this balance and increase the strain on the spine.
According to World Health Organization, obesity has increased by almost three folds since the 1970s. This puts a significant risk of back and posture-related problems in overweight people.
How to Improve Posture and Alleviate Back Pain?
Working from home has become a norm after COVID hit. But that doesn’t mean you can do nothing to alleviate the back-related issues due to sitting at a desk for a long time.
There are many tried and tested methods to reduce the strain on your back and improve posture. Some of them include the following:
1. Sit up Straight
First things first, always sit up straight when working. Keep the shoulders and spine elongated and relaxed. Besides, don’t forget to keep your feet on the ground level. You can also opt for a desk that has foot support.
2. Use Support
Back support pillows, footrests, and other gadgets help significantly with back issues due to external factors. Moreover, you can go a step ahead and invest in high-quality pillows and mattresses for added support.
3. Take Frequent Breaks
Taking breaks after short intervals is an important tip to prevent back issues.
When you’re sitting in a position for too long, it can cause stiffness and immobility. So, get up and walk around after every 30 minutes to keep the blood flowing.
4. Exercise and Physical Therapy
Many studies have shown that targeted exercise is excellent for posture and back pain. People with chronic back pain also see positive results after hitting the gym for a few weeks. [1]
Lastly, if things still don’t work, you can try taking therapy to address the root cause. When back pain and posture problems become severe, treating them using at-home remedies is tough. At that time, talking to a physical therapist and taking regular sessions will help.
Also Read: How Planks Can Improve Your Posture and Reduce Back Pain?
5. Use SUPMOGO RecoveryFlex System
Still, experiencing pinching pain after multiple days of trying the mentioned treatments? Are you getting too old to even relax on your chair?
It signals you to welcome something that could turn your lower back pain into an energy-igniting machine and revive your muscles so that you won’t have to endure this pain anymore!
The SUPMOGO RecoveryFlex System is designed to relieve your back pain and strengthen your muscles by penetrating deep into their layers and stimulating blood flow.
So, why whine during work and get depressed over hunching shoulders when you can boost your performance for hours? Order your SUPMOGO RecoveryFlex System today and empower yourself with more strength and confidence!
Conclusion
So, now it’s no longer a mystery how back pain and posture are linked. Research proved poor posture and physical inactivity increase the probability of lower back pain. [2]
Yet, sitting straight, using back support, and exercising can help treat back pain. Tools like the SUPMOGO RecoveryFlex system also prove to be your best buddy when it comes to fixing posture and treating back issues.
- wk Lee, S., & Kim, S. Y. (2015). Effects of hip exercises for chronic low-back pain patients with lumbar instability. Journal of physical therapy science, 27(2), 345-348.
- O’Sullivan, P. B., Mitchell, T., Bulich, P., Waller, R., & Holte, J. (2006). The relationship beween posture and back muscle endurance in industrial workers with flexion-related low back pain. Manual therapy, 11(4), 264-271.