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Back pain is often caused by stresses on the muscles and ligaments that support the spine. Less commonly, back pain is caused by illness or spinal deformity. Conditions that make you more vulnerable to back pain include sedentary jobs and lifestyles, obesity and strenuous sports.
Common causes of joint pain are injuries, such as broken bones, and osteoarthritis — a degenerative disease in which cartilage starts to break down. Without cartilage, our bones scrape together, causing joint pain and hindering movement.
This information is not intended to replace the advice of a
doctor. If you have any questions or concerns about a health
condition, contact your doctor.
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Follow these tips to help prevent back pain:
- Exercise regularly
- Stretch before you play sports
- If you are overweight, lose those extra pounds
- Maintain a correct posture
- Sleep on your side with your knees drawn up, or on your back with a pillow under your bent knees
- Always lift heavy objects by bending your knees rather than your waist
- Avoid standing or sitting in one position for too long
- Reduce emotional stress that may cause muscle tension.
Go to the National
Institute of Health Web site
for examples of quick exercises that will help you maintain a healthy back. The site also provides tips for lifting objects with the proper posture, such as:
- Get close to the load
- Maintain your curves
- Tighten your stomach muscles
- Lift with your legs
- Pivot, don’t twist.
Rest, appropriate exercise, education and, sometimes, anti-inflammatory drugs are part of a therapy program. Acute back pain often goes away by itself in a few days or more. If the pain doesn’t go away by itself after a few days of rest, or if the pain becomes severe, contact your physician.
For more information on back and joint pain, login
to WebMD and visit the Back and Neck Condition Center.
Other helpful resources include:
- NIH Web site:
- For simple exercises to prevent low back pain, click
here.
- To find out your pain level and the actions you should
take to decrease your pain, click
here.
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Sometimes, a lifestyle change is necessary to prevent or lessen joint pain. Shed extra pounds, work with a physical therapist to develop an exercise program, avoid high-impact exercises, which put pressure on the joints, and quit smoking. Smoking affects bone health and response to treatment.
While there is no cure for joint pain, there is relief. Common treatments include exercises to improve strength and range of motion, medications and joint replacement surgery.
Heat or cold packs may provide temporary pain relief, but neither should be used on the joints for longer than 20 minutes at one time.
For more information on back and joint pain, login
to WebMD and visit the Back and Neck Condition Center.
Other helpful resources include:
- NIH Web site:
- For simple exercises to prevent low back pain, click
here.
- To find out your pain level and the actions you should
take to decrease your pain, click
here.
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