And back pain doesn’t discriminate. Whether you’re a waitress or an office worker, you may be susceptible to those awful aches. Heavy lifting isn’t the only culprit. It could very well be that your office chair, shoes, mobile device, posture and weight could be contributing factors.
In this exclusive, we take a closer look at the common factors that could be breaking your back.
5. Your Office Chair
Most Americans spend a good portion of their day sitting, whether behind a desk at an office job or watching TV with their families. U.S. News and World Report found that the average American sits for eight hours per day.
Much of your time sitting happens in the workplace, but Science Daily also found that people who sit for long hours at their job also tend to sit more at home. After a long day at work, where you’ve mentally exhausted yourself, it is understandable that you want to come home and relax on the couch. But is all that downtime beneficial for your back?
According to Spine Health, sitting in an office chair for long periods of time puts a lot of stress on your back, specifically your muscles and spinal discs. It is common for people to slouch when they are seated for a long duration, especially if they have weak abdominal muscles.
Doctors interviewed for an NPR report on back pain suggest standing up and moving for 15 minutes of each hour to lessen the impact of prolonged sitting.
4. Your Shoes
When you try on those super hot, five-inch heels or flimsy flip-flops, you probably aren’t thinking about how your shoes affect your posture and gait. The author of The Truth About Back Pain, New York City chiropractor Todd Sinett says, "Wearing heels also alters the angle of your body so your weight isn't evenly distributed over the spine.” When your stiletto heel hits the ground, the impact of your step is distributed to your knees and all the way up the spine.
Although backless shoes like flip flops are easy to slip on, they aren’t providing the support you need. Because your heels slide around in backless shoes like flip-flops, more pressure is put on the spine because your weight is not equally distributed. Ideally, you might want shoes that hold your heels firmly in place, like sneakers, so that your body’s weight is equally distributed throughout your back.
3. Your Mobile Device
Whether it’s a tablet, laptop or phone, Americans spend two to four hours per day hunched over their mobile devices, according to CBS News. Dr. Kenneth Hansraj, the chief of spine surgery at New York Spine Surgery and Rehabilitation Medicine, discussed how bending your neck to look at your smartphone, laptop or tablet has resulted in an increase in neck, back and shoulder pain.
With the average head weighing about 10 to 12 pounds, any additional bending of the neck increases the head's weight due to gravity. For example, bending your neck at a 60-degree angle to read your friend’s latest blog post puts 60 pounds of pressure on your cervical spine, which is the portion of your spine just above the shoulders.
In this day and age, it seems impossible to avoid bending your neck to view your smartphone, laptop or tablet, but doing so could help you avoid upper back pain. Additionally, Dr. Hansraj said in his study, “While it is nearly impossible to avoid the technologies that cause these issues, individuals should make an effort to look at their phones with a neutral spine and to avoid spending hours each day hunched over.”
Dr. Brian Hammond, chairman of BackCare, the UK’s national back pain charity, revealed that 18- to 24-year-olds suffer most from upper back pain caused by bending the neck to better view mobile devices.
2. Your Posture
If we had just listened to our mothers when they told us to sit up straight, our back problems might have never begun. In fact, Hansraj linked bad posture to a host of medical problems, including neurological problems, depression, constipation, heart disease and of course, chronic back pain. As Hansraj says, bad posture has "the head in a tilted forward position and the shoulders dropping forward in a rounded position."
Good posture, on the other hand, is defined as having your “ears aligned with the shoulders and […] the shoulder blades retracted.”
Correcting your posture could help alleviate discomfort in your upper and lower back. Yahoo Health recommends strengthening your core, or your abdominal muscles, to take some of the extra strain off your lower back. Your abdominal muscles should be doing most of the work to carry your weight while you are sitting or standing. To strengthen your core muscles, doctors recommend doing exercises that engage the core, like yoga or crunches.
1. Your Weight
We all want to look better, but did you know excess weight can contribute to back pain? ABC News has reported that excess belly weight can cause the pelvis to tilt forward, which throws the body out of alignment. Naturally, your body wants to be in alignment, so your lower back works harder to pull the pelvis back to its rightful position. Typically, the lower back is the area most affected by weight in the midsection, even if it’s due to pregnancy.
Dr. Venu Akuthota, who is the director of the Spine Center at the University of Colorado Hospital, recommends tightening your abs for 10 seconds at a time to engage your core muscles, which can take pressure off your back muscles and lumbar discs.
However, considering that your back’s health is at stake, it is important to discuss changes to your exercise regimen, lumbar support and shoes with your doctor.