Causes of Back Pain

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According to Dr. Oz, 85% of us will experience back pain in our lives and back pain is the leading cause of disability for persons under the age of 45.

Good news though – most back problems are caused by bad habits. Following a few good habits can significantly reduce our risk of developing back pain.

Posture: Bad posture appears to be at the top of the list for causing back pain. Things like slouching and leaning forward are biggies. Leaning forward alone, places an extra 10 pounds of stress on our spine. And let’s not forget the proper posture for lifting which is to bend our knees which removes the strain from our backs.

Large heavy hand bags: Ladies, we are notorious for carrying oversized handbags and loading them up with things like diaries, umbrellas, books, magazines and a million other things that we aren’t meat to tote around in a bag on our shoulder. It seems that the bigger the bag, the more items we manage to stuff in. According to Dr. Oz, if our handbag weighs more that 10% of our weight then it is just too heavy and may result in back pain. So weighing our handbags and de-stuffing sounds like some great advice.

High Heeled Shoes: We all want to look great and high heels have a way of adding some extra glam and yes, make us feel just a tad more sexy at the same time. But with all of the new styles in department stores today, how high is too high? According to Dr. Oz, our heels should be under 3″ in order for us to minimize the pressure on our feet and prevent back pain.

Sitting for long periods of time: This one probably applies to most of us. We are not meant to live a sedentary lifestyle and sitting for too long is just not good for our backs. So when you are at your desk working, sitting on an airplane or driving on a long trip, Dr. Oz recommends that we get up every 2 hours to take a stretch and to walk about a bit.

Oh, and one last bit of advice from Dr. Oz – if you have minor back pain – resting in bed is not the answer. Get up and move around is what the doctor ordered. And for pain relief, Dr. Oz recommends massaging the area with some good old fashioned Tiger Balm and taking some ibuprofen if needed. These small strategies can go a long way to keeping back pain at bay.

Stay tuned for additional posts in this series including: Exercises for Back Pain