Lumbar Back Pain – The Cause and Cure
If you are tormented with lumbar back pain, then you know that it is very difficult to live with. Many of the day to day activities we do depend on having a strong and healthy lower back, and without this, things we do all the time such as sitting up-right, or other tasks will prove to be extremely painful. It is often not apparent what may be causing the pain, and we often find ourselves thinking if it will ever go away.
There is good news however. Unless you have experienced a severe trauma such as a break, most lumbar back pain can be lessened or rid of completely and in a natural way by incorporating a good postural program and a regular exercise regimen into your life.
The lumbar back is the site of many muscles that are key to our maneuverability. The spine alone is packed with hundreds of tiny muscles, each playing an integral role in almost every physical action we perform.
As well as having many muscles, lumbar back gives support by curving in toward the body, forming an arch. Arches are very sturdy structures that are capable of sustaining a lot of weight, which is why they often appear in both modern and traditional architecture.
Unfortunately, we often lose this natural support in ways we aren’t aware of. By adopting poor postural habits for so long that they feel completely normal, we slowly draw this structure out of alignment. Then, when we hurt because of it, we aren’t sure from where the pain originates. After all, how we sit or stand doesn’t seem painful. It may, in fact, seem as if we’re doing nothing demanding at all, so why should that hurt?
It is not simple to keep the spine properly aligned for someone who is not used to it. The difficulty comes from having to use muscles that have weakened due to disuse and how to strengthen them is not obvious right away.
At times, we put too much effort into correcting our postures that we can overdo it and make new tension that makes the process even more difficult. Tension tires out the muscles, and fills them with fatigue toxins that add to aches and pains while supporting bad habits, and therefore continuing this bad cycle. Good posture does not involve strength alone however.
In fact, proper posture involves a combination of strength and relaxation. If every muscle in your back tenses, the natural arches straighten into a rod. If all your muscles relax, the arches become too extreme. A good postural program tones the correct muscles while encouraging the remainder to relax, thus naturally re-enforcing the supportive arches required for a pain-free back.
A proper posture program will teach your body to find a comfortable stance, one you can hold for long periods, and train your body to hold it that way. By maintaining good and efficient posture, the pain you have long experienced will slowly diminish, or may even disappear entirely. What was once agonizing will then feel relaxed and natural.
Good posture can benefit you not only in pain management. It is great for confidence as well. People with good postures appear bold and very confident and are treated accordingly. All these great advantages are easily attainable with a bit of effort. Soon, you can be enjoying a pain-free and healthy lumbar back and feel at ease.
Filed under Back Pain by Harry Brown.