8 Common Causes of Low Back Pain

This post contains 8 very common things that seem insignificant. However these things can cause big problems with your back.

1. Sitting on your wallet. Bad idea. I know it’s a habit, but a bad one. Sitting on
your wallet, even if there’s no money in it, causes a shift in every bone in your spine. Long term, it creates uneven wear and tear on your back. So either switch it to the front or get a man purse.

2. Crossing your legs. Whether it is on the couch, while standing, lying in bed, or when you are sitting … it does not matter how and when you cross your legs. Done repeatedly this causes stretching of ligaments which hold your pelvis together, especially if you cross the same leg over the other one all the time.

3. Standing with your weight shifted. If you are a longtime back pain sufferer, you have probably developed little compensations you do throughout your day to minimize your pain. One such error is putting more weight on the other when you are standing. Keep it even.

4. Poor lifting techniques. Bad advice: “Keep your back straight and use your legs”. Better instruction is to think “Keep your back arched, while using your hips and legs to lift.”

5. Lousy sitting posture. Try this, let your shoulders roll forward and keep your back arched. Tough to do both, right? Keeping your shoulders back while you sit will help you keep the slight arch in your lower back as well. This helps with both lower and upper back pain.

6. Sitting in a seat with your knees above your hips. If your hips are slightly higher than your knees, it is easy to keep a slight curve in your back. If your knees are higher than your hips (which often happens when you are riding in a car), it will be difficult to keep an arch in your back.

7. Sleeping on your stomach. You know how I feel about this. Bad idea. Sleep on your back. Second best option is to sleep on your side. Sleeping on your stomach speeds up the arthritic (aging) process. See my posts on this.

8. Lifting while twisting. The combination of lifting something and twisting at the same time puts stress on the discs in your lower back. This is a good way to herniate a disc in your back, you don’t want that.

Well I hope this has been helpful for some of you. If you have any questions, please give our Cedar Rapids Chiropractic office a call at 319-393-4303 to speak to someone today.