A major international study has found that back pain is the biggest cause of ill health in the whole world. The study found that back pain is the biggest cause of years lived with disability. This won’t be a big surprise to a lot of people who have suffered from a chronic back problem.

It’s thought that the increase in these conditions is partly down to our more sedentary lifestyles. A lot of us spend all day at a desk hunched over in front of a computer. This is no good for the health of our spine, and it’s not surprising that we develop problems. So, how can we avoid back pain?

Get More Rigorous Exercise

Exercise is vital for an all round healthy body, we all know this. But you might not realize just how much it can help you keep your back in good condition. Firstly, working your body means working your back. It allows you to stretch it and work all the muscles in your spine, and this helps it stay in good health.

Getting regular exercise also means reducing your weight, which is necessary for a healthy back. It’s simple physics, the more you weight, the more your spine has to support. Your spine is the support network for your whole body, so by weighing more than you should, you’ll be putting extra pressure on it. Over time, this will cause it big problems.


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Focus on Your Sleeping Position

We all spend a lot of our time asleep in bed. Therefore, it’s unsurprising that the way you lie when sleeping can massively affect the health of your back. If you sleep in an awkward position night after night, it will eventually take its toll on your back. There are some sleeping positions that can help you out though.

Sleeping on your side is usually seen as the best way to sleep for your back. But you should also put a pillow between your legs to make sure that one leg doesn’t fall over the other as this puts your spine in an awkward position. If you want to sleep on your back, you should put a pillow under your knees to lift your legs up to keep your back in the best position.

Have Regular Check-Ups

To keep your body, not just your spine, in top condition you’ll need to see your doctor regularly and have your health checked. This will allow a medical professional to monitor the health of your spine over a number of years so they can build up a picture of how the health of your back is changing.

It’ll also give you the chance to report any problems you have to your doctor as soon as they arise rather than leaving them to get potentially worse. If you don’t have a regular doctor or medical insurance, you should do this quickly; insurers like Blue Cross Medicare will be able to help you out.

Now we know how widespread back pain is, it’s time to do something about it. So, start following these tips today.