Low back pain is the common condition that affects almost everyone in their life. Now a days it affects people as young as 20. Thanks to the sophisticated lifestyle and its compulsive gadgets. The pain can be initially mild, then it turns intermittently moderate and finally it progresses to a severe form. This is the stage most of patients(late realization) seek medical advise. Some of them get strong pain killers and some of them are referred for an MRI, only to find out the problem in their DISC and the STRAIGHTENED LUMBAR SPINE(normally, it should be curved back). Almost 85-90% of the back pain are mechanical in nature( due to poor mechanics/ergonomics), which slowly starts affecting your bones, joints, discs and nerves. The pain can initially centralized only in the lower back but gradually can go down to the buttock, thighs and or even to the legs . Some of them even feel tingling, numbness over the toes. Even in this stage people take pain killers and rest themselves. There is no pharmacological agent for a mechanical pain. These measures can only reduce the pain and not the cause of the pain. In due course pain will become unmanageable. The pain would be more in the morning after waking up and after prolonged sitting or driving. Lying down or standing tend to reduce pain.

5 Steps to Prevent Back Pain

  1. Avoid sitting for more than 2 hours continuously- Long hours of sitting will increase the intradiscal pressure and can set the condition for future disc prolapse. So just get up and walk for three to five minutes for every 2 hours of sitting.
  2. Avoid using recliner sofas or chair in the office, car and house. The posture during sitting does matters a lot. These sofas can let your spine slouch and cause structural deformation of the disc. So sit straight by maintaining the lower back curvature. Remember it must be bent backwards. You can also use a small lumbar cushion between your lower back and chair. Use the same in your car seat too.
  3. Avoid lifting heavy weights especially in early morning(like cylinders). Bend the knees to pick up an object than bending your spine. Do not hold your breath during lifting. Rather just exhale. Avoid vigorous weight lifting in the gym. Dead lifts, leg press exercises will actually worsen the back pain if you already have it. 
  4. Do Bhujangasana (Mckenzie Spinal Extension Exs) ten times at least three to four times a day. It is a wonderful and world renowned exercise of mechanical back pain and disc bulge. If you do that every two hours there is a 70% chance that your pain comes markedly down in a day or two. 
  5. Reduce your body weight by gentle Aerobics like walking or jogging coupled with healthy dieting. Every 1 kg of weight loss is equivalent to 3-4 kg of stress/Load reduction in the back and in your disc. So try shed some weight. 

Finally, respect your pain.Think about why it is happening rather than simply treating it temporarily. The pain is actually doing you a favor by telling you that there's something wrong going on in your back.