Does Bending Your Back = Back Pain?
Were you ever told or taught never to bend your back when you lift things, or you’ll “slip a disc”? I’m sure many of you have heard this before and so bend from your knees, keeping your back as straight as possible when lifting anything. But should you?
In previous blogs we have outlined what an intervertebral disc is and dispelled some of the myths surrounding them. One of such myths is to never let your back bend when lifting anything. Now while your discs are extremely robust, strong structures it is true that they can of course become injured when we don’t take care of ourselves, physically, mentally and socially.
As mentioned previously many associate bending activities/ positions (which is spinal flexion) as being more likely to cause injury to our spines and discs. As a result, many try to avoid bending or “flexing the spine” thinking this is helping protect their backs from injury. Unfortunately, this may not be the best way to approach reducing the risk of low back pain or injury.
Recent research is demonstrating that those who tried to lift using their knees with a straight back were found to experience more back pain than those who lifted freely and with confidence.
This news report video highlights the findings:
Many of our daily activities such as picking up the kids, getting something out from the bottom drawer in the kitchen or your golf clubs out the car, sorting out the flower beds in the garden or performing sporting activities, all require our spine to go into flexed positions. Therefore, avoiding flexion is not training your body physically to get used to these types of positions and movements, nor is it giving you the confidence to explore these movements.
Of course, in order for your spine to remain happy, able to function well, move freely and tolerate load you need to look after it. This means understanding yourself as an individual, looking at all the variables we know are linked with pain and injury, such as:
- the physical such as muscle function, movement efficiency, strength and conditioning and general exercise levels.
- the psychological such as stress, anxieties, mood, thoughts and beliefs about back pain and injury, and having confidence to move and use your back, even under load.
- The social (or lifestyle factors) such as work life balance, fun, enjoyment, social interaction and sleep.
So In a nutshell, your discs can become injured just like any of part of the body. But protective approaches such as avoiding certain positions or movements (like flexion), not partaking in exercise and loaded activity is most probably more harmful than beneficial and will NOT reduce your risk of re-injury.
Back pain is multifactorial and you need to find out what factors are relative to you and make a tailored active treatment plan that promotes, physical activity, movement and exercise aimed at building an efficient and robust body that allows you to move how you please without having to worry about your back.
Stay Healthy
Movement Moguls
References:
· “How Healthy Discs Herniate”. Wade, Robertson, Thambyah & Broom, 2014.
· “Intervertebral disc herniation: studies on a porcine model exposed to highly repetitive flexion/extension motion with compressive force”. Callaghan & McGill, 2001.
· “Human Intervertebral Disc Internal Strain in Compression: The Effect of Disc Region, Loading Position, and Degeneration”. O’Connell, Vresilovic & Elliott, 2010.