Habits that are harmful

Back pain is preventable if you know what bad habits to avoid.  Fix the problems of back issues is to fix the rooted bad habits right now. 

Here are the 5 bad habits you need to know if you are hoping for a good life with no chronic back problem:

#1 - Pull Instead of Push When Lifting

We tend to forget about our own body a lot of times when we are conducting tasks using them.  There are so many people make this mistake.  So much of time is our back gets the bad consequences.  If you are lifting, make sure to check the following procedure in mind:

• Get as close to the object as possible and make sure you keep the object close to your body at all time
• Bend your knees first then grasp the object firmly before lifting
• Lift straight up and do not twist at your waist
• Bend you knees before lowering the object when you move the object to its designated place

#2 - Poor Posture

We also tend to forget about our posture, especially when we think we are just "sitting down:  Poor body posture is something you never think of yet a lot of problems on your spine creep in because of it.  Right now, check if your shoulders are slouched, if your head is down, if your knees locked and if your legs are crossed?  If you are in one of the above posture you have placed an enormous amount of stress on your spine. Over time, back pain will happen before you know it.  We need to keep our body in balance and minimize any stress on our disks.

#3 - Eat too much and weight gain

We spend too much time sitting down either for our work-related tasks (ie keyboarding, net-surfing),or non-work related activities (ie watching TV, seeing movies, driving).  It is a sedentary society we are in today. We definitely do not want our spine to be ruined and our chronic back problems to happen if we have ways to avoid them.  As a matter of fact, people who are overweight are more likely to suffer from back injures and pain. To keep your weight down, you need to make sure your calories intake is burn out by your physical movement.  If you love to eat, you have to love to workout to burn those unwanted calories.  Even if you don't love to exercise, you have to find a way to keep activities like "jogging", "walking", or "bicycling" a part of your regular life.  It will help you stay fit and feel good and keep the chronic back pain away from you.  

#4 - When the pain happens, you ignore them.

Medical attention is needed when your pain last for more than 2 weeks.  However, most of us tent to ignore the pain.  In fact, there are non-surgical way to treat pain.  Go to your doctor for consulting before treatment.  Back pain can be serious if you left it untreated in time.  

#5 - Smoking Tobacco

Among the many harmful effects of cigarette smoking on the body, early and more severe degeneration of the back is getting more and more attention. Nicotine - in any form - blocks the transport of oxygen and important nutrients to the spine's discs. Starved of oxygen, the discs are much less able to repair themselves and tend to collapse at a much earlier age than is seen in non-smokers. This painful collapse - degenerative disc disease - can lead to chronic back pain. Moreover, should any surgery be needed, smokers have been found to have much slower healing times and a high rate of failure to heal.