Pain in any form is bad for our daily functionality, as it reduces our ability to concentrate fully. The burning sensation that results from it creates too much tug on our brains. Our bodies, no matter how hard and sturdy they seem, are quite fragile towards succumbing to our bad habits.
The same holds true for our backs as a lot of us have a high chance of developing back pain as we get older. This is one kind of pain that doesn't go away easily. People with back pain have immense problems continuing to do what is deemed normal like working, driving and even sitting and standing. The pain is made more excruciating by the fact that it engulfs the whole back and its effect is even felt in the arms and legs.
Back pain is not a disease which inflicts you on its own, it's brought upon by us due to our harmful habits, which contribute to its origin and let it aggravate further as time progresses.
Here are 4 harmful habits that you need to avoid to stop you from developing back pain and neutralize it if you have it currently:
1. Bad posture for prolonged periods of time
The leading cause of back pain is having sustained bad posture, which leaves your back in an unnatural position, harming the discs in the spinal cord or twisting the muscles which start generating pain if you keep on doing it. Most people with back pain complain of stiffness, which comes as you unwind yourself into your natural position as the back gets jammed.
To avoid this from happening, you have to correct your posture and ensure that it stays that way. Bad posture includes hunching and slouching while sitting or standing making the strain on your back heighten. Keep your back straight and have a sturdy support when sitting and stand with your chest protruding outwards to keep your back in its inwardly curved position throughout your body.
2. Not having a good night's sleep
Sleeping is the body's mechanism to recuperate not only the mind from the day's activity but for your body as well. It's a well-known fact that your height in the morning is higher than when you end up in bed at night. This is due to the gravitational pull of the earth and the back's natural coil action that happens to absorb strain.
Getting a good night's sleep is necessary for your back to straighten itself back to its normal position. For an adult, 7-9 hours of sleep every night is necessary to avoid developing back pain. Also, take care that the surface you sleep on is not too soft or too hard but that it provides support and fits the contouring of your back perfectly.
3. Not having a balanced diet
Your bones need their due nutrition like every other part of the body and if these specific needs are not met, trouble will be generated. The main requirement of your bones and muscles are consuming calcium and protein simultaneously in substantiated quantities on a daily basis to keep them functioning in a healthy manner.
Our worst habit is that when we do eat too much of the right stuff, we end up being overweight, which puts further strain on the already weakened muscles and bones, multiplying exponentially and causing immense pain.
What we need to do is to follow a healthy diet, firstly to keep ourselves in the normal BMI range, and secondly to give our muscles and bones what they want. Consume protein-rich foods like fish, meat and eggs and foods with high calcium content like milk, cooked kale and broccoli to keep the most strained muscles and bones strengthened.
4. Not exercising on a daily basis
Redundancy is bad for everything and the same goes for your body. Your body needs to be activated in the right manner for a certain time period every day, even if it's small. Back pain is also caused when your back loses its strength and snaps and wilts under the slightest addition of pressure. Exercising keeps your body in good shape and keeps it agile.
The best thing to do is to prepare a regimen for you and follow it daily. This regimen should consist of meditational exercises, cardio and weight training to keep your body fit. Remember that in all kinds of daily exercise, your back comes into play and gains strength which makes it harder for you to develop any sort of pain in it because of its increased ability to absorb and neutralize pressure.
