Everyday Habits That May Be Causing Your Back Pain

When your back is healthy and everything is working how it should, you don’t think about what it takes to maintain a healthy spine. But when your back is hurting, it can be debilitating. Back pain is one of the most common health problems around the world. It affects people of all ages and is estimated that nearly 80 percent of people will suffer from back pain at some point in their lives. Back pain is the leading cause of medical visits and missed work. 

You don’t have to experience a traumatic injury or lift a heavy object to have a back injury; the source of back pain isn’t always discernable. Your routine habits could be causing your aches and pains. 

Are Your Daily Habits Causing Your Back Pain?

Sometimes, the small, daily habits can gradually strain your spine. Small everyday activities can lead to back pain. By making small adjustments, you may find relief and avoid more serious issues down the line.

Carrying a Heavy Backpack or Purse on One Shoulder

Hanging a heavy backpack, handbag, or laptop bag over one shoulder creates muscle lopsidedness, which overworks one side of your spine while destabilizing the other side. This can pull your spine out of alignment and lead to aching throughout the spine. 

How to Improve This Situation: If it’s a backpack use both straps, or alternate shoulders more often. If possible, downsize what you carry or choose a backpack with padded straps that are supportive and offer proper weight distribution.

If it’s a purse or a handbag, carry only the essentials to avoid the weightiness of a heavy purse. 

Favoring One Leg While Standing

Supporting yourself on one leg while standing throws off your hip alignment. One side of your pelvis lowers while the other side compensates, causing disproportionate tension that resonates up your lower back. 

How to Improve This Situation: Intermittently switch the leg you favor and focus on distributing your weight evenly between both legs. Strengthen your core and glutes to help maintain better posture and balance.

Looking Down at Your Phone: “Text Neck”

Constantly looking down at your phone for reading, texting, or scrolling, puts enormous strain on your neck and upper spine. The “text neck” posture leads to stiffness and pain radiating into the shoulders and back, and sometimes it causes headaches.

How to Improve This Situation: Raise your phone to eye level when using it. If possible, rest your phone on a bag or back pack to elevate it. Do chin tucks by drawing your head back so your ears line up over your shoulders. During concentrated phone call sessions, take frequent breaks. Stand and stretch your neck and shoulders every 20 minutes to avoid stiffness.

Sleeping on Your Stomach

When you sleep on your stomach, your lower back is forced into the mode of hyperextension, and your neck is often contorted to one side. Both of these positions misalign your spine and strain the spinal joints throughout the night. 

How to Improve This Situation: Shift to sleeping on your side or back. Place a thin pillow under your hips to reduce the curve in the lumbar area and use a soft, low-profile pillow for your head. This will help your neck be less curved. Retraining your sleep posture should make a big difference.

Wearing the Wrong Shoes

High heels or shoes with poor arch support shift your body’s center of gravity and change your posture. This misalignment places undue stress on your lower back muscles and your spine. 

How to Improve This Situation: Invest in well-fitting, “sensible shoes” supportive footwear. Look for shoes with good arch support, cushioning, and a negligible heel-to-toe drop. High heels or fashion-only footwear should only be used for rare occasions. 

Your Desk Job

Many of us spend the bulk of our day working at a desk. Sitting puts more pressure on your spine than standing up does. Maintaining good posture is extremely important, but it’s probably the last thing on your mind when you’re writing an e-mail or report.

How to Improve This Situation: Try to remain upright with your feet flat on the floor and avoid leaning left or right. Take a break to stretch every hour or so. Invest in an adjustable standing desk and work while standing for a few hours each day.

The Larger Picture

Back pain often has multiple reasons for causing pain. Poor posture, muscle tension, emotional stress, repetitive strain, and poor nutrition or lack of sleep can all play roles. Often these everyday small habits are overlooked. However, small habitual alterations can have surprisingly big results, especially when done unfailingly. 

Chiropractic care is a holistic approach to addressing back pain. While timely visits to a chiropractor may help correct misalignments and offer strategies for relief, your daily habits form the underpinning of spinal health. Stress management, daily exercise, posture awareness, and ergonomics all interact together to reduce pain and keep your body in balance. 

Back pain doesn’t always occur after an unexpected injury; it can quietly occur from everyday habits like sleeping on your stomach, carrying a heavy bag on one shoulder, wearing unsupportive shoes, craning your neck downward looking at your phone, or leaning on one leg. Recognizing these less obvious problems and making simple adjustments can considerably relieve back strain and put you on a path to less pain and greater comfort.

If you’re experiencing persistent or worsening back pain, consider reaching out to Texas Spine & Sports Therapy Center, and uncover a personalized, holistic care plan that will get to the root of the problems. With small changes and the right support, you can improve your circumstances with a healthier, more comfortable spine. 

Make an Appointment at Texas Spine & Sports Therapy Center

If you are suffering with a painful back pain, Texas Spine & Sports Therapy Center can help. We offer a variety of treatments that are tailor-made specifically to relieve your pain. Contact us today by calling (512) 806-0015 or contact us online to make an appointment.

Our goal is to provide solutions and personal care for a better, more productive pain-free life for our patients.