It may seem like a no brainer, but most of our patients don’t realize that the things we do every day can either help us or hurt us. Poor choices can lead to back pain, which isn’t fun for anyone.
We’ve listed 5 simple and easy changes that you can make in your daily routine to help ease back pain or prevent it from ever arising!
5. NOT Drinking Enough Water
“I drink a LOT of water, Doc!” This is the response I get when I ask every patient about their water intake, but, after digging a little deeper it turns out that 99% of my patients aren’t even CLOSE to getting the sufficient amount of daily hydration they need.
To make it simple, a bottle of water is 16.9 ounces. A 200 pound person needs 100 ounces of water= 6 bottles of water (+ more if you’re exercising or out and about in the hot Miami sunshine)!
Water nourishes your spine and muscles. Think of your body like a sponge. If the sponge doesn’t have any water on it, what happens to it? It’s stiff and dry…just like your body! If the sponge is covered in water, it’s looser, and moves/bends easier.
“But I don’t like water!” If water bores you as much as the last Super Bowl, try spicing things up a bit! Add fresh lemon or lime juice, fruit or even some peppermint or lemon essential oil! This flavor will make drinking water a whole lot more fun!
4. A Sedentary Lifestyle
Well, they move. From their bed to the shower to the car to their desk then back to their bed. This repeated 5 days a week, 50 weeks a year is where it’s a problem.
Movement is the KEY to life and the KEY to a healthy spine. When we perform the same (small) movements daily, our muscles and ligaments get stiff, our circulation decreases and we not only end up with a prematurely aging spine, we end up with a slew of other health problems as well including diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular diseases.
3. Lack of Stretching
Unfortunately, this isn’t even CLOSE to enough the amount of stretching needed to counteract all the abuse we do to our spines every day.
Thanks to Youtube, we have access to an endless amount of stretches and exercises. We recommend searching ‘Beginner Stretches for the Lower Back.’ No headstands, nothing crazy. Just gentle stretches and breathing.
So how much should you stretch? In a perfect world, 30 minutes a day, but we know that we all have busy lives, so any amount of stretching is better than no stretching at all.
PRO TIP: Leave your yoga mat laid out in your living or bedroom to remind you to stretch each evening while you binge watch your favorite Netflix series.
2. Slouching on Your Cell Phone and Computer
Having good posture is vital, especially in this technology driven world where we are always slumped forward over our phones or computers.
Poor posture has been linked to headaches, back pain, neck pain, digestive problems and even breathing issues!
We have seen countless patients with postural issues due to technology…they’ve even named a medical condition after it, called ‘Text Neck!”
Fortunately, daily stretching and exercise help to strengthen those postural muscles and chiropractic adjustments increase motion in the spine, so you’ll stand more upright, breathe better and have improved digestion!
2 PRO TIPS: Get a standing desk. We’ve been using this inexpensive and portable standing desk for 2 years now and it’s perfect for our laptop!
Also, Download the Posture Protector App (Android Only), which alerts you when you slouch while using your phone.
1. Not Getting Enough Sleep
So how can you sleep more and better? Obviously if you have a newborn this is non applicable. For the most part, most of us CAN sleep more, we just choose to be distracted, which keeps us up late at night. What may be causing this distraction? You know the answer…TECHNOLOGY! Shut off that darn phone or computer 1-2 hours prior to the time you want to be asleep.
Feeling healthier already? We thought you would! By making these small changes in your life, you’re bound to live healthier and have less back pain-or-hopefully never have back pain at all! Get started today!
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