3 Simple Spine-Sparing Strategies to SAVE Your Low Back!

Spine-sparing strategies help prevent low back injury and pain. They are a series of small daily life modifications that decrease the amount of unnecessary stress and force through your low back. Keeping your low back healthy and safe is extremely important, not only for physical comfort, but also for being independent in your every day life. Unfortunately, low back pain is common. Studies show that within a 6 month period here in Canada, 5 out of 10 people will suffer from low back pain. And a high of 85% of people will suffer from low back pain in their lifetime. Those are high numbers! So let's do our best to lower them by practicing spine-sparing strategies. Here we go!

1. Bend with your hips and knees, not your spine! (Bet you've heard this one before! But how often do you actually do this?)

The reason it's so important to bend with your hips and knees is because this movement allows you to keep your back flat while still getting low to the ground to do whatever you need to do. When your back is flat, it is in its naturally strongest and safest position and that's a great thing for injury prevention. If you aren't able to get low to the ground to do whatever you need to do, another way to modify this is to bring the thing you need to do up to you instead! Try working on a table or using a stool to bring your foot higher if you're putting on socks or tying your shoes.

2. Turn your whole body rather than twisting your spine! 
This goes back to keeping our back flat. If your back is twisted, it's not flat meaning you're now out of your back's naturally strongest and safest position. Twisting can be particularly risky if you're carrying a heavy object while twisting (like groceries or a child/grandchild) or if you need to repeatedly twist (like working on a conveyor belt). So instead, try taking a step in the direction you want to turn to and move your whole body instead of twisting your spine. A bonus is you'll likely get a little bit more exercise this way too since this is a whole body movement! 

3. Pull the object as close to your body BEFORE lifting!
The further away the object is to you, the heavier it becomes. Physics 101. Try a simple experiment at home to see this in action for yourself. Pick up a small household object with both arms straight out in front of you (like a bag of milk, a bag or purse) then move the object closer to your body and pick it up again with both arms. Which way felt heavier? The one with your arms straight out in front of you! Now this experiment becomes much more exaggerated when the object is actually heavy (don't try this at home). The heavier the object, the harder it is to lift when it's far away from your body. And if you do manage to lift it, it places a lot of stress and force through your low back which can put you at risk for injuring your low back. 

One thing an article can never do as well as an in-person appointment is PERSONALIZED lifestyle modifications that are specific to YOU and only YOU. Here at Nurture Family Chiropractic in Guelph, Ontario we can help you. Book an appointment with Dr. Brenda Yee or Katrina, RMT to discover how personalized treatment and daily life modifications can decrease your pain and improve your quality of life.

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