Preventing & Treating Back & Neck Pain - Briefly ...
It seems like back and neck injuries 'just happen'. Many times, a person will injure their back while lifting something they have lifted a dozen or hundred times prior. Sometimes, you can wake up with back or neck pain! And other times, we just do something we shouldn't have done - and pay the price. Unfortunately, a moment of lifting something 'just this one time'; or a moment of lifting and twisting; or a moment of not waiting for help to come can give you a low back pain episode that lasts for weeks or months. Understanding more about anatomy of the back and neck, movement and exercises can help prevent and treat back and neck pain. Let's take away some of the 'mystery' behind back neck pain - ready?
The spine is actually composed of three main sections. The picture at the right depicts the natural curves of each section. These curves are important for carrying loads and maintaining these curves helps prevent back and neck pain (i.e., good posture) - your Mother was right! The lumbar, thoracic and cervical curves are especially important to maintain while lifting and while sitting. Each of the bones in your spine is called a vertebra and each vertebra has a disc in-between (except the sacral, coccygeal and upper cervical segment). Disc-related pain is common in the low back and neck. See picture to the right. The center of the disc, or nucleus, consists of a liquid gel-like substance.
The fibers surrounding the fluid nucleus are like the layers of a tire. These fibers can weaken and break when certain forces are applied over time. As fibers weaken, the disc nucleus can move out of its central location - causing pain.
Specifically, stooping or bending forward, slumping in your chair, and lifting with your back bowed all place uneven forces on the disc - and can cause the disc nucleus to move. See the picture at the left. Notice how the disc bulges backward when the vertebra (and you) slump or stoop forward. Do this a few hundred times over days/weeks and you can give yourself long-lasting back pain. The picture to the right shows a forward head posture. This places uneven forces on the discs in the lower neck - similar to the low back. See? Disc problems begin and continue due to mechanical forces that occur because of your posture habits and ways of lifting, moving and sitting every day.
Slumping while sitting or driving puts a lot of strain on the upper back. Slumping posture stresses the muscles and the joints and can be a significant cause of upper back pain.
Two other common causes of back pain occur due to bending and twisting - whether you're lifting a pencil or sock, or lifting a heavy package. Bending and twisting even with a light load can cause minor joint misalignments (and disc problems) resulting in sharp pain near your spine. Or, a bending and twisting motion can cause a pelvic misalignment resulting in pain to the low left or right of your low back - down near the hip. See the other side of this page for tips on prevention and exercises to treat these various back and neck pains. Back and neck pain is not a 'mystery' - it involves mechanical forces from your various movements and postures every day.