6 tips for avoiding back pain

While back pain issues have many causes, some of them unknown, there are simple ways that could get you relief. These simple steps could reduce your back pain and help you stay healthy.

• If you're sitting around all day, which is bad for the back, you're not getting exercise.
• Exercise helps keep extra weight off, strengthens abdominal and back muscles and keeps your back properly aligned.
• If you spend a lot of time sitting for work, try to get up and move every 20 minutes or so, even if only to walk to the water cooler and back.

• In one study, researchers used MRIs to evaluate three sitting postures in 22 volunteers and find the perfect posture.
• The participants either hunched forward, sat ramrod straight or leaned back slightly.
• The researchers found the greatest risk of vertebral movement in people who sat up straight and the least in people who leaned back slightly.
• Such vertebral movement can lead to misaligned discs that can cause serious back pain.
• Find a chair that provides good back support but also allows you lean back just a bit.

• Tempted by a nice, fluffy, pillow-top mattress? Resist.
• Studies find that firm mattresses provide more support for your back, resulting in less back pain.
• Your mattress shouldn't be hard as a granite slab, though. Choose one that's medium-firm for best results.

• A physical therapist can develop a program of exercises for you that addresses impairments in flexibility and strength. They may also help you have a more active lifestyle.
• Pilates focuses on strengthening your core muscles — all the muscles that surround your spine and abdomen — that play a role in stabilizing your back.

• A recent experiment on 20 sedentary office workers looked at how an exercise ball can help with back pain.
• Half of the participants exercised twice a week for 10 weeks with inflatable, oversize balls known as stability balls. The other half did nothing.
• Those who used the ball showed major improvements in spinal stability. The muscles they developed in their abs and backs acted like a thick belt around the waist to support the spine.
• The better your spinal stability, the less likely you are to develop back pain.
• The sizes of these balls vary. Be sure to choose the right size for your height.

• Big purses may be great for packing it all in, but they can wreak havoc on your back, especially if you hoist them on one shoulder.
• They make you walk lopsided and pull your neck, shoulder and back out of alignment.
• Instead, try a backpack or a purse slung across your body. Each of these distributes the weight more evenly across your shoulders or chest.
• Your bag shouldn't weigh more than 10 percent of your own weight.

Why is back pain the most common medical complaint in the Western world? It could be because creatures — whether human or not — were simply never meant to walk upright. And while you can't change your heritage, you can guard yourself from the effects of this design weakness.