When it comes to back health, you become the mechanic who knows your body the best. Armed with knowledge and the proper tools, you can ensure your back and spine stay healthy for many years to come. June is back health awareness month in Sunrise Health Region with the message that back health and the prevention of back injuries is important to overall health and quality of life.
More than 70% of back problems occur during routine daily activities and many experience some type of back pain at some point in time. The pain may occur suddenly and be gone within a couple of days or weeks, or it may occur repeatedly, never completely going away, and can have a major impact on your regular activities.
Back pain can be caused by lack of physical activity, poor posture, emotional stress, trauma/injury, unsafe lifting techniques, repetitive movement patterns, excess body weight or simply the aging process where our bodies naturally start to experience deterioration.
Physical Therapists are available to provide an assessment and determine one鈥檚 individual needs in relation to back pain. They are part of a group of professionals who will work with you to determine appropriate activities for your specific lifestyle needs, provide ideas and thoughts on how to move better within your home and work environments and provide strengthening and flexibility exercises. You can be referred by a doctor or self-refer. If you would like to talk to someone about back issues you are experiencing, you can phone and make an appointment with a physical therapist. Physical therapists work in therapy departments throughout Sunrise Health Region or in private practices.
鈥淓ducation is huge,鈥� explains Denise McKee, physiotherapist at Cornerstone Therapies in Yorkton. 鈥淲e work to provide a lot of self-management techniques for individuals to help prevent back pain. We try and give people a lot of tools in their tool box so that they can manage their condition and they can try and prevent flare-ups from happening.鈥�
Denise goes on to say, 鈥淎s part of people鈥檚 treatment, we always give them strengthening exercises or what we call core exercise so part of good body mechanics is always think about tightening those core muscles before you go to do a task so that you鈥檙e giving your back that extra muscular support. Every time we lift or move something, we are putting stress and a load through our spine and the joints so we want to try and reduce that as much as possible.鈥�
Proper body mechanics ensure your back can remain strong for many years. Some prevention strategies include learning how to lift properly, be aware of bad posture to be able to quickly correct it, move around and do not remain in one position for a prolonged period of time, push a heavy load instead of pulling it, turn with your feet and don鈥檛 twist from your back, don鈥檛 be afraid to ask for help, maintain a good, healthy fitness level, use the correct tools for the specific job you are trying to accomplish and plan ahead (for example, moving furniture and being aware of your surroundings) instead of rushing to get a job done. Protect your back.
As lawn and gardening season is in full swing, homeowners can spend hours doing yard work but too much twisting, reaching, bending, lifting and carrying places excessive strain on your back. Take the time to determine ways to decrease the load on your back. For example, use a lawnmower with adjustable handles so you don鈥檛 have to stoop over to cut the grass. Purchase tools that will work best for you like a low stool or a cushion to kneel on when gardening or working in flower beds. Ensure tools are sharp to decrease the amount of effort needed to use them. It is about knowing how to use what you have in a better manner to decrease the work our backs have to do. The same principles apply to shoveling snow in the winter; be mindful.
Wade Miller, also a physiotherapist at Cornerstone Therapies, states that, 鈥淧art of prevention and good health is maintaining good mental health habits, make sure your body is getting enough sleep, get support for any mental stresses you may be going through, engage in activities that decrease emotional stress and maintain a healthy, active lifestyle.鈥�
For information on how to access physical therapy services, call 306-786-0178.
