Looking after your lower back

You’ve been sitting down all morning trying to get to the bottom of your work pile when you notice that you haven’t moved in hours from your desk. You think it’s high time you got out of that chair and stretched. Your Chiropractor has told you often enough..

Do you know why?
After only 15 minutes of sitting down your lower back experiences compressive forces that reduce your natural spinal curve and the height of the vertebrae themselves and the discs,– even when you’re doing it well!! 15 minutes isn’t long in anyone’s books. How are you going to reduce the stress in your lower spine – spinal de-compressive exercises.





Seated Exercise
Sit forward in your chair as shown in the picture below. Rest your hands behind you on the chair. Keep your arms slightly bent. Start by lifting your chest in an upward direction, followed by your lower back. Keep your bottom still on the chair. This should feel like something is pulling you towards the ceiling. Next focus on stretching and straighten out your elbows. Keep this stretch for a count of ten and relax. Repeat two or three times.

This coordinated stretch reduces those forces felt in your lower back after sitting down. When done frequently throughout the day, it releases the tension and helps the mind stay on track.


If you’re able to get down on the floor and do a double leg lift, or even bring one knee towards your chest (knees and toes pointing to the ceiling) at a time. Alternate and feel your lower back relax.

How much force is your lower back experiencing?

Lets say you’re an average 70kg person.Your standing at ease. The third lumbar vertebra in your lumbar/lower spine experiences roughly 51 kg of force. That equates to about 73% of the bodys weight felt at the joint.

Here are some more statistics

Sitting without a lumbar support equals 71 kg of force on the L3 vertebrae – Yes more than the actual weight of the individual.

Sitting with a lumbar support 41 kg – time to get that chair looked at isn’t it?

Coughing produces 61 kg of force.

Doing sit ups 122 kg of force.

Bending forward and rotating 20 degrees holding a 10 kg weight – 214 kg of force!!!. Think of yourself getting the shopping out of the car and reaching into the corner of the boot to get that last shopping bag. Or bending down to pick up your toddler and placing them on your hip. 10 kg now becomes 214 kg.

In a moment of not thinking about what you’re doing or how you’re doing it, you can put extreme force on your lower spine without even realising it. We often forget just how much work our lower back is doing for us. And what do we do for it? Do these stretches to start with and have your spine adjusted by your Chiropractor.

Yours in Health

Dr Lucy

Source

http://www.dynamicchiropractic.com

Disc Pressure Measurements NACHEMSON, ALF L. MD (C) Lippincott-Raven Publishers.