If you regularly experience back and neck pain, you’ll know what it’s like not to have a healthy and happy spine. In some cases, the pain can be so bad that it overwhelms your entire body, leaving you struggling to function.
Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to protect your spine. Check them out below.
Learn To Sleep Right
You spend upwards of seven hours per day in bed lying down. So learning how to sleep right is essential.
If you sleep on your side, invest in a thick pillow that keeps your head and neck at the proper position. Also, consider the width of your shoulders. If they’re broader, you’ll need a wider pillow than somebody who has narrower shoulders and vice versa.
Go To A Spine Clinic
Sites like ispine.com.au point out the importance of going to a spine clinic. Here you can find out whether there is something functionally wrong with your spine and whether you need corrective surgery. In most cases, your spine itself won’t be the problem, but rather the muscles around it. In others, however, the spine itself could be the source of your pain and something that a surgeon will need to correct.
Get Into Yoga
The ancient yogis understood that the best way to care for the body was to move it into certain positions. Over the generations, they perfected their routines. And today, we’re living with their rich inheritance. Many people who practice yoga and similar routines find that their spine health increases and that they are able to function better throughout the day.
Add More Walking
Adding walking to your routine is another great way to improve the health of your spine. Walking lengthens the spine and helps to strengthen the core, promoting flexibility and better bone structure. It can even increase the strength of the bones themselves.
If you plan on getting into a walking regime, speak to a specialist first as they will be able to tell you whether it is suitable for you.
Be Mindful Of Your Posture
Having a poor posture every now and then is okay – you don’t need to be perfect. But, long-term, you need to train your muscles to adopt good postural positions most of the time. Otherwise, poor posture can translate into different bone structure.
When you look at an X-ray of a spine, you’ll see that it follows a natural curve. It starts by bulging out in the upper back, then it sweeps inwards at the lower back, before jutting out again where humans have lost their tails.
Where possible, stretch and walk everyday for as long as you can. If you sit at an office chair, ensure that you align it ergonomically. Also, if you can, invest in a standup desk as these are a great way to keep you moving and your back active throughout the day.
Get Massage Therapy
Lastly, you can invest in massage therapy. Research cited on sites like betterhealth.vic.gov show that it can reduce muscle tension and improve skin tone.
