Backache? No problem. You can still ‘Bend it like Beckham’.

You feel a twitch in your low back, then heaviness and a sudden stab of pain. It strikes without warning: when you are crossing the street, stacking the dishwasher, jogging, whacking a football, lifting a baby, riding a bike, bending over, or just getting out of a car.

Now you’re afraid to move. You’re locked in place. You feel a belt of pain pulsating across your back from hip to hip. You wonder, “What’s happening? What did I do to get this?” You feel as though you’re cut in half, as the pain seems to separate you from legs. “Will the pain go away? Will it stay?” Cautiously, you start to move, but the pain only strikes harder. And if the pain does ease off in a few days or go away in a couple of weeks, studies show that over time, it is certain to return in close to 50 percent of patients.

Back pain can become your personal bully if you don’t pay attention to it

In most cases, back pain is acute or short term and lasts a few days to a few weeks. It tends to resolve on its own with rest and self-care.

Whereas, in other cases, it can readily become chronic back pain, lasting for months, years, even a lifetime. It may become so intense and disabling that your life can change dramatically for the worse. It can strip you bare financially, isolate you from family and friends, and leave you anxious and depressed. It can banish even the mere thought of sex. The curious thing about back pain is that the more you think about it, the worse it becomes. Preoccupied with your pain, you lose interest in hobbies and sports. Your decreased activity may lead to obesity, which, in turn, can increase your chances of developing diabetes and heart disease. You watch in despair as you decline physically and mentally. But, don’t worry, the good news is that most people with long-standing back pain benefit with exercises.

Here’s how exercise is the key to a healthy back –

One may assume that resting is the best option to get rid of back pain. But, you’re wrong! In fact, resting can make your body stiff and increase your pain on even slightest of the motions. Therefore, exercise is very important to alleviate your back pain, be it acute or chronic.

A 30-minute aerobic program, 3 times a week, is ideal for overall fitness. Walking or swimming is highly recommended for people with back problems. They are safest of all the options.

In the early stages, specific exercises are recommended which help in easing pain at a particular part of your back. For e.g. the positioning exercises help in placing the spine at a resting position, thereby, providing relief to the sore muscles and joints.

As the back becomes less painful, the exercises will be changed to focus on: flexibility, strength, coordination, and aerobic conditioning.

Flexibility exercises are helpful in establishing a pattern for safe movement. Stretching exercises also increase the flexibility in the muscles and ligaments of the back and reduce the chances of re-injury.

The next stage of exercise focuses on the strength of the muscles that support the spine. These muscles help bring the spine into the normal shape. Well trained abdominal, back, and hip muscles can help hold the back in a neutral position.

Learning how to find and hold the neutral position of the spine is the key to a safe and healthy posture. Therefore, it should always be done under the guidance of a medical professional.

The doctors can not only help you get rid of your back ache through exercise but increase your overall fitness levels. Regular exercise conditions your muscles so that they are able to obtain nutrients and oxygen from the blood. If muscles are used to work in fits and spurts, they are more likely to burn sugars without using oxygen, which may make you “feel the burn”. Exercise also releases chemicals like endorphins into the blood which acts as a natural pain reliever.

Hope, by now you are convinced that one should ‘Bend like Beckham’ to prevent or get rid of backache and enjoy life to the fullest!

Backache shouldn’t be a cause of misery in your life,

It should be a ‘BACK-UP’ for your lifetime.