Back and neck pain have become a part of everyday life for many people but did you know that pains at different times of the day may be a direct reflection of our daily habits and postures?
Many people suffer from pain at the end of the day despite being relatively pain free through the day. This implies that there has to be some kind of a trigger during the day that causes the pain to flare up at the end of the day. In some cases the pain can even flare up by late afternoon or early evening in people who start the day early in the morning.
In this blog we will explore why this happens and how we can avoid it with simple and easy solutions.
Most of us have a relatively stagnant lifestyle and our bodies stay in static posture, whether standing or sitting for prolonged periods of time during the day. Under normal circumstances gravity acts on our body at all times. But when we stay in prolonged standing or sitting postures the muscles in our back/neck have to constantly hold their position with no change in their positions. This tends to make them achy and tired as they don’t get the time to destress. The same is true for the spine and the joints in the area. Thus by the time we get to the afternoon or end of the day we feel the tiredness, ache or pain in the spine and muscles of the back/neck.
The solution to manage this problem is surprisingly simple. Introduce movement into your daily routine. Get up move around every 20 to 30 minutes throughout the day, except when sleeping. Move around and don't let those loads build up on your muscles and spine.
If you are in a job with hours of sitting try to cross and uncross your legs and shift your weight around in the chair during long meetings and video calls. If you are on a voice call try and walk around.
If you are in a standing job and there is no place to sit try and lean against a wall or your car or a tree or bench if possible. You can also shift your weight from one foot to another and keep on alternating this in your standing hours. You can find some more tips in the video here.
Another quick and easy tip to manage this problem is to note when the pain starts everyday. Most of us feel a niggle of pain before the full blown back/neck pain occurs at the end of the day. Try to apply a cold pack when you feel that niggle of pain. Alternatively if you don't feel this niggle then apply the cold pack as soon as the pain starts and don't wait for it to build up on itself. A cold pack helps to ease the inflammation in the back/neck.
Thirdly, try and maintain good posture and keep your spine in a neutral posture to reduce the chances of getting back pain /neck pain. One of the ways to do so is the work on strengthening thecore muscles. You can find some easy exercises to do so along with simple progressions in my free community here.
We have a training in there on 'Posture tips and tricks' that can help you achieve as well as maintain a good posture throughout the day.
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