More than 80% of the total population worldwide suffers from spine pain or back pain at some or other point in time of their life. However, the sad news is that this most essential organ of the body is one of the most neglected organs in your day to day lifestyle.
This increases your chances of developing chronic back pain related health issues later on such as herniated disc, strained muscles or spinal stenosis. However with little care and alertness in your regular life and by incorporation some effective tips for maintaining spinal health you can prevent all these health risks.
Your spinal muscles, ligaments, and nerves provide support to your overall body organ no matter what posture you take or make. For preventing the risk of chronic and consistent lower back and neck pain which easily affects the quality of your life it is crucial that you take care of your body postures.
People, who suffer from spinal pain have to suffer from many other difficulties in their regular life. Like it interferes with your job, household duties, your relationship with your family members (with its stress effect) and it even leads to withdrawal from social activities or participation in your favorite activities.
So before you face such a devastating effect of bad spinal health, its time to take an active step by paying full attention towards your body’s postures and to incorporate some healthy living activities in your daily life to stay fit and energetic with your strong and healthy spine.
11 Tips for Maintaining Spinal Health
Practice Good Postures
The key to good spinal health is that you strictly follow only good postures while moving, sleeping or sitting to avoid unnecessary stress on your spine. This ensures the long-lasting strength of your spin and prevents its concerns especially associated with the aging process.
Make sure that to reach or get some things that are above your shoulder level you take the help of a stool or something like that. This is because you can easily strain your mid-back, shoulder and neck areas while reaching any objects existing above your shoulder level.
While picking up anything from the ground or a table don’t bend your waist. Instead, you should kneel down on your one knee, keeping the other foot in the flat position to the floor and get as closer as it is possible to lift that particular object.
Similarly while standing keep one of your foot a little bit in front of your other foot with your knees bend slightly. This particular standing posture will reduce pressure from your lower back. In case you need to stand for longer duration then shift your weight frequently from one foot to another and from your toes to your heels. This will take the pressure off from the low back.
Avoid lifting a heavy object as this is the most dangerous posture that can badly harm your spinal health in the long run or even some times instantly. Instead, you should push the heavy objects instead of pulling them. Also, you can take someone’s help to share the burden of heavy objects.
In any condition, you should avoid twisting while lifting an object for the sake of your good spinal health. Likewise while sitting you should keep your knees bit lower than your hips, head in up position and keep your back straight. While sitting you should maintain your natural curve in the lower back area and must avoid rolling your shoulders in the forward position.
Give Good Rest to Your Spine While Sleeping
Sleeping hours in the night is the most ideal time for the rest of your spine which has worked and struggled throughout the day by offering support to your whole body. So, you should definitely not miss this golden opportunity at any cost.
However, sleeping on your back puts excess pressure of body over your spine. So to avoid straining your spine and back muscles as much as it is possible, avoid sleeping on your back.
Still, if you are sleeping on your back then keep a pillow below your knees as it will put off some of the pressure of your spine. While sleeping on your sides inserts a pillow between your both knees as that also reduces the pressure from the back portion of the body.
To strengthen your spine health you must avoid sleeping in a certain position that hurts your spine. Usually, you can yourself determine better that which particular sleeping position is suitable and healthy for your spine and accordingly you can sleep daily.
Also, you should be very careful about the mattresses and pillows that you are using to sleep on a bed. Choose a mattress that is best for your spinal health which can ensure a full level of comfort and relief to your spine. It must not be too soft or too hard to hurt your spine.
Use Electronic Products Carefully
Nowadays life without using electronic products and Media is simply unimaginable. However, this is the high time when your spine including your neck and back strains mostly.
So to avoid this issue and for maintaining your spinal health it is crucial that while watching television or using a mobile phone, desktop or laptop device you remain careful about your body posture.
While texting or surfing the internet in your mobile phone bring your arms in the front position so that you don’t have to bend your neck and without hurting your spine muscles your eyes can see and do its task.
If you wear specs then while using a laptop or mobile make sure that your eyes can easily scan the whole screen without moving your head. Also, look down with your eyes without moving your head while using these devices when you use them without wearing glasses.
If you attain a mobile phone while traveling or while doing some other task, avoid keeping your mobile phone between your shoulder and ears as it puts unusual pressure on your shoulder. Instead, use a headphone to avoid this condition.
While sitting in front of a desktop make sure that your feet are in a comfortable position so that it won’t put pressure on your shoulder, neck and back areas of the body. Keep your feet in a flat position on the floor or on a footrest along with knees down than your hips. Make sure that you are able to use the desktop easily with very little pressure on your spine.
These small-small precautions can save your spine or back health a lot by putting less pressure on this particular area of the body and allotting the pressure on different parts of the body equally so that none of them get over-stressed.
Stay More Active
People who are more inactive in their day to day life are more at risk of damaging their spinal health at the very early stages of their life. It is very crucial that your spine has a fluent level of blood circulation which can only be possible with your much active body and mobility.
So to avoid this issue and to keep your spine healthy and in strengthen position you should remain more active in your day to day life. Keep your body fit and active by indulging in activities like swimming, cycling, jogging, gardening and even playing with your kids.
With these small-small activities, you can tone your neck and back muscles along with ensuring that it won’t stress and remain healthy throughout your life.
Stretch Out More
There cannot an easier movement than a stretching of your spinal muscles including neck and lower back to keep your spine healthy and strong forever.
This doesn’t need any special time just like you require attaining a gym class. You can do stretches movement of the body at any place and any point in time of the day. Whether you are sitting in front of your desktop or a laptop or doing some other tasks, stretch your neck in between to reduce its strain and pressure.
Change your body posture in between the work so that there will be fluent circulation of blood in the spinal areas of your body which often disrupts due to single long hour body posture.
Also, it keeps your neck and back more flexible and ensure its normal movement and a good level of functions. Stretching movement practices reduces your risk of falls and injury. So do some stretches in the morning to jump-start your day along with ensuring good spinal health with its regular practice.
Practice Core Exercises
Exercise is the most reliable way for the natural treatment and improvement of any body organ. Moreover if your workout regularly it ensures that your body won’t have to suffer from those health issues that usually faced by people who don’t exercise at all.
The core strengthening workout or exercises are best for toning and maintaining your spinal health. The core muscles of your lower back and abdominal area needs to be strong and flexible enough so that it can provide the necessary support to your spine and relieve pressure from your lower back.
As core muscles are one of the least used muscles of your body in the day to day life activities so it calls for the necessity of special activities like exercises to tone them.
These target core muscle exercises are very easy to practice. Just with daily 20 to 25 minutes practice it get well strengthened and supple enough to offer good support to your spine ensuring a healthy spine.
Wear Spine Supporting Shoes
Your shoes are an important part of your daily wearing and as you need to wear them for a longer duration especially if you are working person so it is crucial that it is very much supportive towards your spine. A good shoe will create a supportive base to keep your spine and body in perfect alignment.
Wear only a shoe that fits perfectly in your heel and toes. It neither should be too loose or too tight that can cause extra strain on your lower back. Also, an unfit shoe causes unnecessary rolling of your foot to inside or outside. On the other hand, a good fitting shoe prevents issues like pronation or supination.
Also, there are specialized shoes for each and every activity like for jogging or walking purposes there are special shoes similarly there are formal shoes for official people that consider the full comfort and support for your whole body including your lower back.
People who lead an unhealthy lifestyle are more prone to damage their spinal health even at a very early stage of life. Smoking is one of these bad habits that simply affect your spinal health badly.
The nicotine content existing in cigarettes directly hampers the blood flow to the discs which support your vertebrae. This causes dehydration, vitamins, minerals and oxygen deficiency, inflammation and free radicals damages risk.
So to avoid this major issue and to protect your spinal health it is crucial that you quit smoking as early as it is possible.
Drink Plenty Amount of Water
One of the leading causes of bad and weak spinal health is dehydration in the body. So to avoid this concern and in order to maintain your spinal health, it is crucial that you drink plenty amount of water in your day to day life so that your spinal discs won’t have to suffer from dehydration and there will be no room for inflammation or any such damages.
A well-hydrated body remains capable of maintaining the soft tissue elasticity and necessary fluidity inside the joints areas. This is the reason, in the lack of hydration your intervertebral disks are more likely to lose its height and strength.
This causes shrinkage in your spinal disks that leads to the growth of many painful disk conditions. Due to lack of fluid, spinal health issues like herniated disks or ruptured disks occur as a result of slipping of disks from its original place.
Prolonged herniated disc causes Sciatica a special type of back pain that radiates down the legs. So to avoid these issues, make sure that you drink enough amount of water to keep your spine and spinal disks in a healthy position.
Lose Your Excess Body Weight
Being overweight or obese increases your risk of developing many diseases. Excess body weight creates extra strain and pressure on your ligaments, muscles, and tendons of the lower back areas leading to spinal pain and its associated problems occur.
So to avoid these problems and to maintain your spinal health it is crucial that you lose your excess body fat and weight as early as it is possible and maintain a healthy weight level.
For achieving this target follow a very healthy diet routine, exercise enough to lose your excess fat especially belly fat which is the primary enemy of your good spinal health.
Don’t Ignore the Warning Signs
Before your condition gets worst your body always gives some warning signs to you and the same occurs in the case of your spinal health as well. Be very careful about the signs and symptoms that signify your bad spinal health condition.
Whether it is your gym session or any other work don’t overstrain your spine at any condition. You understand better what is your limitation and up to what extent your spine can sustain a pressure.
Getting back pain from time to time is usually normal but persistent back pain can even indicate some serious underlying issue. So take medical advice if you feel something unusual as necessary medical support on time can protect you from serious problems of the spine.
The above-mentioned tips for maintaining spinal health are proven guidance for keeping your spine healthy and strong throughout your life and the best part of these remedies that they are easily doable. So follow them and be consistent to stay always healthy with a strong spine.View Article Sources