Back pain is a common reason for absence from work and seeking medical treatment. It can be uncomfortable and debilitating and can result from injury, activity, and some medical conditions, Medical News Today reports. “Back pain can affect people of any age, for different reasons. As people get older, the chance of developing lower back pain increases, due to factors such as previous occupation and degenerative disc disease. Lower back pain may be linked to the bony lumbar spine, discs between the vertebrae, ligaments around the spine and discs, spinal cord and nerves, lower back muscles, abdominal and pelvic internal organs, and the skin around the lumbar area,” the site points out. According to Aniket Ukey, a fitness consultant at Shivaay Yoga & Fitness, back pain can also result from poor posture or some everyday activities such as pushing, pulling, lifting, or carrying something, standing or sitting for long periods, straining the neck forward, such as when driving or using a computer, long driving sessions without a break, sleeping on a mattress that does not support the body and keep the spine straight. He says that other causes could be due to infection of the spine, sleep disorders, cancer of the spine, and risk factors could be, pregnancy, occupational activities, inactive lifestyle, poor physical fitness, older age, obesity and excess weight, smoking, vigorous physical exercise or work, especially if done incorrectly, and genetic factors. To alleviate the pain, Ukey recommends some stretches, like back flex stretch. This requires lying on the back, pulling both knees to the chest while simultaneously flexing the head forward until a comfortable stretch is felt across the mid and low back. “You can also try out knees to chest; lie on the back with the knees bent and both heels on the floor, then place both hands behind one knee and pull it towards the chest, stretching the gluteus and piriformis muscles in the buttocks,” he says. He also suggests lunge stretch; with this, you start on both knees, move one leg forward so the foot is flat on the ground, keeping weight evenly distributed through both hips (rather than on one side or the other). Place both hands on the top of the thigh, and gently lean the body forward to feel a stretch in the front of the other leg. This stretch affects the hip flexor muscles, which attach to the pelvis and can impact posture if too tight. With ankle over knee stretch, Ukey says to lie on the back with knees bent and both heels on the floor. Cross one leg over the other, resting the ankle on the bent knee, then gently pull the bottom knee towards the chest until a stretch is felt in the buttocks. Or, lying on the floor, cross one leg over the other and pull it forward over the body at the knee, keeping the other leg flat. Jean Jules-Alexis Byamukama, a physical therapist at Centre Medical ORKIDE Kigali, notes that good flexibility is known to bring helpful benefits to the muscles and joints. It supports injury prevention, helps to lessen muscle soreness, and improves efficiency in all physical activities. He says increasing flexibility can also advance the quality of life and purposeful independence. Good flexibility helps in the elasticity of the muscles and offers a wider range of motion in the joints. It provides ease in body movements and everyday activities. He says that any movement that requires moving a body part to the point at which there is an increase in the movement of a joint can be called a stretching exercise. Stretching can be done either actively or passively. “Active stretching occurs when the person doing the stretch is the one holding the body part in the stretched position. Passive stretching occurs when someone else moves the person to the stretch position and then holds the person in the position for a set time,” Byamukama says. Byamukama recommends static stretching, with this, one stretches a particular muscle or group of muscles by gradually moving the body part into position and then holding the stretch for a set time. He adds that Proprio-ceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) stretch is also effective. PNF stretching refers to a stretching technique in which a fully contracted muscle is stretched by moving a limb through the joint’s range of motion. After moving through the complete range of motion, the muscle is relaxed and rested before resuming the procedure.
