Bad Habits That Are Making Your Back Pain Worse

Few adults living in the United States today haven’t dealt with back pain at some point. Your back is complex, with spinal nerves, small spinal bones and discs, and the weight of your whole torso coming into play as you move and rest. There’s a lot of room in your back for something to go wrong, resulting in pain and loss of quality of life.

Dr. Beejal Amin specializes in relieving back pain at his offices in Oak Lawn, South Holland, and Orland Park, Illinois. Dr. Amin offers advanced surgical techniques for spinal repair. However, before looking into surgical options that can come with risks of complications and long recovery times, it’s worth reevaluating some of your habits.

Bad habits and back pain

Your back needs you to move and rest properly to function without pain or degeneration. For many people, that’s a tall order for those with poor work, play, and rest habits getting in the way of correct spinal alignment and torso function. And, when your back doesn’t work correctly, chronic or acute back pain results.

Bad habits in action

One common cause of back pain is poor form when bending, lifting, and twisting. These motions pressure your spine and can result in a herniated spinal disc and painful nerve compression. Muscle strains and ligament injuries can also occur due to improper lifting, resulting in temporary back pain that may need treatment to improve.

You might need to lift objects regularly at work. Or, maybe you play a sport that involves bending, twisting, or jumping. In either case, correcting your form and strengthening your muscles can protect you from injury and back pain. 

Supportive bracing and targeted exercises may be a good idea if you think your back pain could be connected to bad habits when in motion.

Bad habits at rest

You can also harm your back with bad habits related to how you rest or work from a sedentary position. Slouching, slumping, and poor posture all place abnormal stresses on your spine and can result in deterioration, loss of alignment, and persistent pain problems, especially if you’re overweight or obese. 

Smoking can also increase your risk of back pain problems due to the stress of regular coughing on your spine.

Quitting smoking, changing your diet and exercise, and watching out for posture problems on the couch might not be fun, but getting rid of your back pain problems is worth it.

Treating your back pain

Dr. Amin encourages his patients to pursue conservative treatment measures for back pain whenever possible. If moderate approaches don’t work, you have options, including spine surgery. However, why not start with lifestyle changes and noninvasive pain management methods like heat therapy and over-the-counter pain medication?

If you think your daily habits are contributing to your neck pain, upper back pain, or lower back pain, get in touch with Dr. Amin for an evaluation. He can give you more information about your condition and discuss your habits, suggesting changes and interventions that may provide relief.

Schedule your initial consultation appointment with Beejal Y. Amin, MD, over the phone or online today, and start your path to a pain-free life.