A friend was telling me recently that the worst thing he had done to his back when younger was replace his roof by himself. The worst part of that was brushing on an area of flat roof. He says he could feel - and possibly hear, although I think he's exaggerating - his lower back grinding with each motion. He was in his thirties at the time and with a few visits to a chiropractor and enough time the pain went away.
The body's resilience fades as we age and/or get out of shape, however.
Now in his mid-forties he tells me with comical detail and expression how he was killing himself sitting all day at his laptop. I find it interesting how we equate our backs with ourselves - our back is such a basic component of our whole selves! He spent several days working out the best height for his chair so that his arms hang freely, his forearms at just slightly greater than a 90-degree angle as he types, no armrests. Looking down at a laptop screen is still a problem, however, and now he has upper back pain!
It occurred to me, having dealt with pain by various means over the years and currently preferring a particular set of stretches, that the first real step to relieve many types of pain is basic, overall health improvement. You often hear that if you're a desk-worker now or for that matter, anyone generally sedentary from work or video games and so on, could benefit fantastically from just taking regular walks.
Many people never start. Perhaps they don't believe it's enough. Well, consider this: there are two secrets as to why the above prescription (regular walks) can make a dramatic difference in your health.
First is the term, regular. By regular we mean one a week won't do. At least three walks a week and preferably five or six, each lasting about 40 minutes or more, and you'll be off to a whole new, healthier life. No heavy lifting, no gymtimidation, no expensive gear.
Second is why such a seemingly simple thing as taking walks works so well, and can actually help relieve back pain among other things. When you walk you're not just moving your legs and getting an extremely mild cardiovascular workout, you're actually activating all your bodily systems:
Musculoskeletal
Cardiovascular
Respiratory
Endocrine
And they want to be active! Try it! In fact they now say bed rest can make back pain worse, that getting moving lightly as soon as possible has tremendous benefit in relieving back pain. Remember, we more quickly fade away than burn out. Get walking!
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