Ergonomic Chairs – Great for Lumbago
Ergonomic Chairs and Lower Back Pain
To an office worker with back pain, a good quality ergonomic chair can mean the difference between being able to continue working and a life of painkillers and possibly unemployment.
I’ve attended work based workshops and training where they provide a basic chair. On occasions, I’ve been in pain within the first hour and certainly by the end of the day I’ve been out of my chair more than I’ve been seated. A bad chair is an absolute nightmare to a person with chronic back pain.
I enjoy working for an employer who provides good quality ergonomic chairs where the standard office chair just doesn’t cut it. I’ve also invested in a good quality back support chair for times when I work from home. My health and comfort is worth it.
So what makes a good quality back support chair? I would go so far to say as a chair with various adjustable options, including arm rests and removable armrests, adjustable height, adjustable tilt, adjustable lumbar support (goes without saying). The more flexibility a chair offers, the more chance it has of satisfying the client.
Get the most adjustable and flexible chair to help you manage back pain.
Sleeping with Back Pain
Sleep and Back Pain
Getting a good nights sleep when you have back pain is not always easy. I find I am more able to tolerate disconfort from back pain if I am not tired…and enduring night after night on minimal sleep can leave you exhausted and sometimes just unable to cope with day to day life.
To today I wanted to offer up a couple of toys and gadgets that I regularly use to help me sleep when I have back pain.
Heat for Back Pain
For brand new muscle strain, most physios recommend cold therapy (eg icepacks) however, for chronic back pain (which I have managed for 20 years) I find heat is my best friend when I am unable to sleep. It allows tight muscles to relax and relieves pain in minutes.
Mattress comfort for Back Pain
If your mattress is too soft, you may find your spine curving as you sleep and this could add unnecessary stress to your existing back pain. On the other hand, a mattress that is too hard may be difficult to sleep on (especially for woman with hips who sleep on their side).
Pillow for Back Pain
In an earlier post, I made note of the body pillow. They are great to rest up to and to place between the knees to help keep your spine straight when sleeping on your side. They can also be used to slip under the knees and take pressure off the lumbar area.
You don’t have to put up with poor sleep because of back pain.
One Of The BEST THINGS You Can Do For Back Pain
One of the BEST things you can do for back pain is optimize your weight.
What’s extra weight got to do with back pain? Well – the two are related because we aren’t doing out backs any favours by carrying around extra weight. The extra weight will probably make your back pain worse.
This means if you are above the healthy weight range, you need to get it well within the healthy ranges.
If you are already in the healthy range, you should consider whether you can drop a little weight to rank in the low end of healthy.
I’m not saying losing some weight will end your back pain, but it will definitely help reduce it.
Slimming tips to reduce back pain
Some quick tips on how to help optimise your weight to help with back pain (summarised because we are all looking for the short easy answers in our busy lives).
1. Minimise refined carbohydrates (ie no cakes, slices, breads, pizza etc)
2. Minimise all carbohydrates after lunch (especially crackers, wine beer, chips, bread, potatoes, rice)
3. Eat low fat, high protein snacks eg: a few tablespoons of low fat cottage cheese, a small piece of left over chicken (no skin), a slice of low fat cheese
4. Avoid commercially produced sauces and dressings and gravitate to home made versions where you know the ingredients (eg lemon juice, pepper, parsley and a tiny bit of extra virgin olive oil)
5. Read the labels on low fat products like yoghurts which ARE low fat but are often loaded with extra sugar to taste better (sugar is converted in body fat if it is not burned through activity or exercise in some way).
6. Opt for lean cuts of meat (or if using cheaper cuts for casseroles, scoop off the fat from the top of the dish)
7. Steam where ever possible (includes chicken and fish – not just vegetables).
8. Cut down or preferably stop using added sugar (eg in tea or coffee or cereals).
9. Avoid soft drinks and juices that are not sugar free.
10. Reduce your alcohol intake. Difficult if you are a social butterfly but try it and see if it reduces your back pain.
Lose Weight for Back Pain
The most effective weight control pogramme I have tried is the Diet Solution Program. I’ve personally used this to help with my weight and relieved my back pain.
Lose Weight for Back Pain
Another highly advisable goal for back pain sufferers is to improve your abdominal muscles so that they better support your back.
I highly recommend that you look at some of the products listed across the top of this website for further help with back pain.
Night Time Relief From Lumbago or Sore Lower Back
Do you find you wake up in the mornings with a sore lower back
Whilst you have been sleeping, you can’t be sure what position you have been sleeping in…and some positions are better for bad backs than others.
One thing that most back professionals agree on is to sleep on your side or on your back (don’t sleep on your belly – as it puts too much strain on your lower back).
Another thing that some recommend is to prop a pillow between your knees when sleeping on your side. Every physio I have ever seen says this helps with a sore back as it helps keep your spine straight. The doctors also suggest popping a pillow “under” your knees if you sleep on your back. This takes the pressure of your lower back. I’ve tried them both …and yes they both work but I regularly find that I lose the pillow during my tossing and turning.
The solution:
Buy a 5 foot pillow for your sore lower back
I’m serious. I’ve just bought one and its great. First, you can’t lose a pillow that size when you are in bed. Secondly, you can shuffle it around either between your knees or under them, depending on how you are sleeping. Placing a pillow under your knees whilst asleep takes a whole load of pressure of your sore lower back and will improve the quality of your sleep. They aren’t expensive and as an aid for your sore lower back, its well worth the investment. Once you try it you will never want to be without it. GREAT for a sore lower back.
Don’t Put Up With A Sore Lower Back.
You might be in pain, but you don’t have to put up with a sore lower back. Help yourself by taking these low cost, easy steps to relieve some of the stress from your sore lower back.
Use it or lose it
What do you risk losing if you don’t use it? Flexibility and mobility if your back ceases to support your lifestyle!
Twenty years ago, many doctors recommended rest and immobilizing the back in order for it to heal…….some even going so far as to fit a brace to a patient with a bad back.
A lot has changed in that time (thankfully).
For those with chronic low level pain (like arthritis), doctors now regularly recommend light, low impact exercise like walking and especially swimming as it its non-load bearing and good for all round well being.
When your doctor or medical advisor does tell you its time get some light exercise, take their advice!
Depending on where you live, getting to a pool (and into it for that matter) can be easier said than done. For me, the crows have got to be falling from the sky through heat exhaustion before I go into a pool ….unless its heated. So do yourself a favour…..join a pool or a gym with a pool thats heated and make a regular date to exercise.
Even just treading water and dog paddling is good exercise. If you can’t swim – no problems – just take big strides through the water (its harder than you think)…..or grab a kick board and do a few laps of kicking.
Your body will thank you for it.
7 second pain relief for back, neck and shoulder pain (guaranteed)
Back pain relief in 7 seconds…….Guaranteed?
Sounds too good to be true doesn’t it? But Roy Palmer (the owner of this product) is so confident, he offers you an eight (8) week,no risk, unconditional 100% money back guarantee.
The simple, powerful techniques in this guide will help you:
- Start feeling relief from your pain in seconds
- Stop wasting money on expensive solutions like specialists and prescriptions that only remedy the pain and instead of fixing the problem (no more getting $200 bills for cortisone injections)
- Start feeling refreshed in the morning after a great night’s sleep (No more tossing and turning all night because you can’t get comfortable from the pain)
- Get back to enjoying your life again and stop planning around your pain
- Get relief from your pain and prevent it from recurring by using these very safe, easy-to-use techniques
- Stop feeling helpless as you take back control of your body and regain your confidence
- Learn the root cause of your pain (and how to use that information to eliminate the problem)
- Stop dealing with short term pain relief and focus on long-term recovery and getting back full use of your body
- Regain the full range of motion and flexibility you once had even when you thought it would be impossible.
- To sit at your pc comfortably working without the stress and pain you’ve put up with for a long time.
- Return to pain free activity and exercise
Calcium Supplements – Friend or Foe
Dangers of Calcium Supplements
A lot of people with back pain take calcium supplements for their bones.
However, what you may not know is that a study, published in the British Medical Journal, suggests that calcium supplements – which are commonly taken by over 50s people to reduce the effects of osteoporosis – may increase the risk of cardiovascular events , such as heart attacks and stroke, by up to 30 percent.
“We believe doctors should be re-assessing the risks and benefits of calcium supplements in the management of osteoporosis,” said the senior author of the paper, Ian Reid of the University of Auckland in New Zealand.
John Cleland of the University of Hull in Britain, and a co-author of the BMJ editorial, believes the prudent thing for most women to do is forgo supplements.
“I am not convinced the effects [of more heart attacks] are real,” he said. But he added that there is also very little reason to believe that the tablets are actually helping to prevent bone fractures.
It would seem that taking calcium via natural nutrition is a sensible approach – which means increasing the amoung of low fat milk, cheese and yoghurts, increasing your intake of fish and also your intake of green leafy vegetables.
Do you have arthritis in your back?
If you have had a back injury for many years, there’s a reasonable chance you could have osteo arthritis in your back.
The only way to tell for sure is to visit your GP and to ask to have your back x-rayed. the x-ray will show any degeneration in the spine and your GP can recommend appropriate supplements.
After having this done myself and discovering degeneration in my lumbar areas, my GP recommends:
- Glucosomine
- Good Quality High Concntrate Fish Oil
- Vitamin D supplements (a blood test will confirm if you require supplements of Vitamin D)
- Good high quality low fat sources of calcium eg yoghurt, milk, cheese, cottage cheese, fish (with bones) and leafy greens.
If you have any concerns, check in with your Doctor as soon as possible and be on the front foot with your health.
How does muscle imbalance happen?
Here’s a claim too bold and too good to ignore.
Give me 21-days and I’ll cut your back pain by 90% or get rid of it all together using Muscle Balance Therapy – guaranteed!
After managing back pain for close to 20 years, this claim grabbed my attention. I wondered how muscle imbalance could happen in the first place.
The sports and activities you do contribute to muscle imbalances— sports, golf, gardening, horseback-riding — you’re using your muscles all the time, some-muscle get stronger, others get weaker creating a constant tug-of-war on your pelvis and spine ….
The exercises you do contribute to your muscle imbalances — so your hour at the gym, on the treadmill or running — all come into play to pull your body out of alignment …
Even how you sit … how you stand … and how you walk all-day long contributes to your muscle imbalances too …
What you do all-day at work — whether you’re sitting at a computer, standing or running around saving people’s lives on a fire-truck …
Everyone has muscle imbalances. And as you may have already realized, muscle imbalances are responsible for more than just back pain and sciatica.
Just think about it; what happens when you drive your car with unbalanced tires or your steering is out of alignment? Your tires wear down unevenly and quicker than normal and eventually you’ll have a blowout… the same is true for your body!
So even sudden pain caused by lifting something or gardening, was only made possible by the underlying cause — the months and years of uneven pressure and wear and tear on your body caused by muscle imbalances.
The “event” was simply your body finally breaking down.
The muscle tug-of-war has been going on in your body for decades. Muscle Balance Therapy is a unique system for restoring your body to its’ pre-back pain state.
And returning your pelvis and spine back to their natural, neutral position.
Muscle Balance Therapy wipes these dysfunctions from your body and your life by identifying the specific muscles that are too tight and too weak. Then it loosens the tight muscles and strengthens the weak muscles.
Repetitive Stress and Back Pain
The number 1 reason for back pain is REPETITIVE STRESS.
Did you know that close to 80% of adults experience back pain? Your back doesn’t go because of a simple action like bending over to tie your shoes or play with your kids.
It’s an accumulation of stress from multiple different causes – a simple thing like bending over was just the straw that broke the donkey’s back, so to speak…
The key is to address all of the causes of stress on your spine to be free from back pain.
Even if your back pain started from a major accident, fall, or stupid move (we’ve all done it at some point), to get back to 100%, you need to make sure there’s no excessive stresses going through your spine.
Unfortunately, with the spine – it’s not as simple as carpal tunnel in that you just take a break from typing since you use your back for everything that you do!
Click on this link to access a FREE report outlining:
- The 1 real cause of back pain (it’s so simple, you’ll be shocked that you’ve never heard it before!)
- The absolute WORST thing you can do when you throw your back out (do this and you’re damaging your back)
- How if you haven’t addressed these 2 critical factors, you’re wearing your back out day in, day out
- What you need to do to ‘bulletproof’ your back so you never get back pain again
To summarize, address the following 4 factors and you’ll finally free yourself from back pain:
- Muscular imbalances and postural dysfunction
- Movement patterns in exercise, sport and daily life
- Proper muscle recruitment and activation patterns
- Advanced core stability training methods
Click here for more information to help your back pain.
