The spine is arguably one of the most important parts of the human body. Along with maintaining our posture, it also serves several other purposes. Back pain is one of the most common aches experienced by a person during a lifespan. It can range from a mild ache that can be neglected, to something as serious that would require medical attention and subsequent treatment. Along with having to live with this pain, it can also cause you to skip work and social activities and prevent you from carrying out your daily schedule.

The current work from home culture has seen an alarmingly increasing rate in the number of lower back pain cases. Maintaining a good posture, a healthy and relaxed sleeping position, and practising better body mechanics in every performed activity can help maintain a healthy spine and also prevent damage in the future.

Our highly trained and well-experienced orthopaedists at Fortis Hospital recommend practising a healthy lifestyle as the first step towards a healthy spine and back. Making exercise a part of your daily routine along with a balanced and healthy diet is key to a pain-free life. Providing your body with the requisite nutrition not only preserves your spine health but also boosts the body's innate ability to heal minor injuries occurring in the soft tissues around the spine.

8 Tips to Help You Take Better Care of Your Spine and Back

1. Sleep tight and right

Getting adequate sleep in the correct position is exceptionally important when it comes to maintaining good spine health. Insufficient sleep or inconsistent sleep regularly can cause some chaotic changes in the body. This is one of the leading causes of chronic back pain. Sleeping on your side on an appropriate mattress is the optimal way to maintain good spinal health.

2. Exercise regularly

A healthy exercise regime is one of the best ways of strengthening your back muscles and can dramatically improve the health of your spine. A stationary and inactive lifestyle can increase the risk of lower back pain in the long run. A combination of stretching, strengthening, regular walking, swimming or riding a bike can be invigorating and can promote a pain-free and healthy posture.

3. Healthy body weight

It is a well-known fact that obesity can increase the risk of developing various diseases. Excessive belly fat can increase the stress on the muscles and tendons in the back and can lead to chronic back pain. Maintaining a healthy and ideal weight according to your age and height is imperative to keep diseases and back issues at bay.

4. Always lift right

One of the most common reasons for a catch in the bank or pulling a muscle is an improper form while lifting heavy objects from the ground. The doctors at Fortis recommend that the correct posture while lifting from the ground is to stand as close as possible to the object and shift the body pressure and weight to the legs and knees and not the back or upper body. Bending the knees and lowering the height while keeping the head down and back straight can help to avoid muscle pulls.

5. Hydration is key

Water is life and rightly so because staying hydrated is essential in maintaining the elasticity and fluidity of body joints. Inadequate hydration causes decreased flexibility in the body, limited mobility during daily activities and chronic pain. Dehydration also causes the spine to age faster than normal thus affecting the functioning of the entire body.

6. Good shoes

We all love shoes, especially the high heeled ones. But it is often ignored and an unrealised fact that bad shoes can significantly affect your back health. Shoes that have gone through enough wear and tear, do not support the arch, and those that cause stress on the posture while walking should be avoided. Appropriate ergonomics, which is the practice of proper body mechanics, are imperative to reduce the stress that such shoes can place on your lower spine.

7. Posture

Anatomically the spine is a specific S-shaped curve. But slouching of the shoulders, or a bent frame can cause this natural shape to change. The doctors at Fortis Hospital recommend that focusing on your posture for a few minutes every day can make a dramatic change to your spine health. 

8. Stress

The debilitating effects of stress are often underplayed and in the case of your spine health, it can also cause a direct impact. Back pain is closely associated with the levels of stress in your life. Reduction in stress levels, relaxation methods and practising healthy breathing techniques can lead to your spine being in better shape and health.