This question must be troubling many young people. In spite of having the same lifestyle like others, why I am the only one suffering from back pain. In this article, will try to answer this question and will give few Do's and Dont's for the same.
A small research was done on young people(age group - 20 to 35) with and without upper back pain to give an ideal example and support my findings. Back pain mainly occurs in young people due to muscular overload and 3 main types of muscular overload are as follows:
1. Exertion Overload: It simply means that your back muscle was not strong enough to perform a task required for it. And is more commonly seen in unconditioned muscles.
Example: Lifting something improperly. Lifting something that is too heavy. Pushing or pulling something improperly. Twisting or sudden movements. Coughing, Sneezing.
2. Repetitive Stress Overload: In these cases, the muscle’s functional capacity is exceeded by given task.
Example: Standing or sitting for long periods. Long driving sessions without a break.
3. Biomechanical Overload: For any given movement muscles work in a group. In this situation, a synergistic muscle become overloaded by the additional workload that it must take on because of its dysfunctional partner.
Example: Abdominal muscle weakness leading to back pain.
It was predominantly found that around 60 to 70 percentage of people with upper back pain and around 40 to 50 percentage of people without any pain have weak dominant side(shoulder blade) muscles as compared to their non-dominant side.
TEST - Lie on stomach, keep your hands by side holding a 1-litre bottle in each hand. Turn your neck to one side and first raise your shoulders and then hands till they become parallel to your body. Try to hold this position for 30 seconds. If you are unable to hold your dominant side as compared to non-dominant or if your triceps(back muscle of upper arm) is hurting, you present an ideal picture of Muscular Overload. Unable to hold your dominant hand is an example of Repetitive Stress Overload and Triceps Strain is an example of Biomechanical Overload.
Some factors should be looked on, additionally to above points like vitamin deficiency, overweight, work-related stress.
Few Do's and Dont's to avoid your back pain:
1. Bend from knees not from the back, while lifting anything off the ground with your feet shoulder-width apart.
2. Don’t do any work at a stretch like sitting in front of a computer for long hours. Take intermediate brakes, just change your position(sitting to standing).
3. Always turn to one side and then get up from the bed.
4. Avoiding slouching and maintain an erect posture of the spine while sitting, with workstation close to your body.
5. Sleep on a firm mattress, and while sleeping on the back, keep a pillow below your knees. And while sleeping on one side keep a pillow between your bent knees.
6. If you are carrying anything keep that shoulder slightly elevated, and walk with a straight back.
7. While carrying a backpack, carry it on both shoulders with backpack close to your upper back.
8. While using a mobile phone, don't drop your head instead lift your phone.
9. While standing keep one foot higher than the other on a low stool or so.
10. While carrying a baby or anything heavy, keep your back straight don't lean backwards from low back. And carry it close to your body.
11. While travelling in a car or while sitting in front of a computer for long hours, in between press your head and neck back to sit; with chest out and stomach in.
12. While travelling on a bike, try to shift your load in front on bike's handle.
13. Maintain a healthy lifestyle and Exercise regularly.
14. Learn to live with a positive mental attitude. Hope you got your answer. Just consultant a therapist, before you self-diagnose or preassume your condition.