As the weather gets colder we tend to become less active.

We sit more at school, at work, and at home. This can bring about lower back pain. Here are a few quick tips and exercises that you can do to prevent lower back pain.

• Get up once an hour. Sitting, especially slouch sitting, puts the most amount of pressure on the spine which leads to back pain. By standing up once an hour and walking around, you relieve this pressure and decrease the compression stress on your spine.
• Be aware of your posture while sitting. When you have a long meeting or class, sitting up right aligns your spine relieving pressure, and good posture also allows your trunk muscles to engage properly absorbing some of the stress to the spine.  A chair that provides good lower back support is a great tool to encourage good posture. If your chair does not have good back support, roll up a towel or purchase a lumbar pillow for your chair. Then sit all the way back in your chair so that your back rests against the support.
• Stretch daily. The hip flexors, hamstrings, and gluts are muscles that attach to your spine and pelvis which tend to tighten up when you are sitting. As they tighten, they become shorter and they pull on your spine. Doing stretches for these muscles on a daily bases can help to maintain their flexibility and relieved tension stress on the spine. Make sure you hold each stretch for 20-30 seconds and repeat 2-3 times on each side.

By Catherine Rowan, DPT

Back in Motion Physical Therapy – Gorham, Maine