Solutions lie in getting active again. You don’t have to hit the weight bench just yet. Start with walking. Put your muscles on alert that it is time to buff up. A personal trainer can design a program for you that include weight lifting and cardiovascular work to improve endurance and build stronger muscles one fiber at a time.

Stress – As we touched on before, stress can kill – literally. It can lead to poor choices such as bad eating habits and lack of sleep. When the body doesn’t have time to repair itself at night while you snooze, the machine begins to break down. Small aches become big pains. The immune system falters and even normal everyday activities can lead to injuries leaving you with a backache.

Stress management is the key. Learning how to manage stress, through diet, exercise and instruction, gets stress under control. You are better able to handle problems at work and at home without destroying your body. Meditation is a useful tool in stress management that puts the mind back in control over the body.

Obesity – It has become an epidemic in the United States and other developing countries around the world. Even our kids have not been spared. Poor eating habits, stress and lack of exercise have led to more weight on the frame than the frame was designed to bear. Just walking around with extra pounds puts three times more pressure on the knees for each pound. For the back, which has to hold all of “you” up, it is even easier to slip a disc or injure the vertebra.

Lose weight. It is easier said than done, but if we do nothing, things won’t change. Success begins with small steps. Before your back begins to hurt chronically, start a walking program. Change the foods you eat so that your body becomes a fat burning powerhouse instead of a fat storage unit. Enlist the aid of family and friends to help you reach your goals.

Poor body mechanics – This has to do with posture. Standing on the ground, you may not realize that you are listing to the side or leaning forward. It is so natural to you now that you hardly notice it except when the pain gets to be too much. Poorly worn shoe soles, inadequate chairs, leaning and lumpy mattresses (you don’t have to keep it forever even if your mother-in-law gave it to you as a wedding present) all work to keep your spine out of proper alignment. For women, carrying around lots of breast tissue without proper support can do a number on your back as well.

The way to prevent this is to try ergonomics. It is all the rage in office buildings across the country. But, it can work for you in your home office or just sitting at home enjoying yourself. Chairs that adjust to the proper height for eating or using the computer raise your eye line so you don’t have to lean in and put extra pressure on your vertebrae. If you are short, use a foot stool to keep pressure off of your hip flexor muscles and lower back. As to the breast situation, find a bra that has maximum support for your size. A bra with a strong back support helps maintain posture so you don’t lean forward.

When it comes to standing, try a new pair of shoes. That could be the culprit of your back pain. When our posture is off, shoes begin to wear down in specific patterns. If you’ve ever worn someone else’s shoes you can tell if they walk on the inside or outside of their feet. Either can shift your weight and lead to backache.

Injury – Maybe you were in a car accident or took a bad fall when playing sports. Quick twisting movements can lead to bulging discs and other back problems. In an effort to protect itself, the muscles of the back tense up causing intense pain for you. If you’ve ever seen someone’s back give out, they instantly become a statue.

Seek medical attention. Back pain due to injury requires a diagnosis of the underlying problem. If you have a herniated disc, pinched a nerve or injured vertebrae, this may mean surgical intervention to fix the problem. Even if you feel fine at first, it doesn’t hurt to get checked out. You may need that proof later for insurance purposes at the least.

Let’s take a look at the anatomy of the human back to see where the pain is actually coming from. The human back consists of a bony spine. This spine is divided into sections: 7 cervical vertebrae (in the neck region), 12 thoracic vertebrae (in the area of the chest, attached to the rib cage), and 5 lumbar vertebrae (what we typically refer to as the lower back) and the bones of the sacrum and coccyx (fused bones that extend to the pelvic region including the tailbone).

This bony structure gives us the gift of movement. Each bony vertebra sits on top of each other and moves when we move. It gives our body form and shape along with the bones of the skull and the extremities.

Another important job of the spine is to house the spinal cord. This is a muscular tubular structure that houses the nerves running from the brain down the length of the cord. Each nerve has a root that extends from the cord at the level of the organ that it is responsible for supplying “feeling” to. There are many nerve roots that arise from the spinal cord like tendrils.  And, the spine keeps them all safe from injury during normal everyday activities.

Each vertebra is separated by a disc. It is a soft pad that cushions and absorbs the shock much like the soles of your shoes when you walk. But it is also tough to withstand a lot of pressure without moving. The middle of these pads contains a jelly-like center that also acts as a cushion.

Now you know what your back looks like. It maintains our erect posture so we can reach, stand, sit, bend and twist. In our next post we’ll move on to the causes of that pain you are feeling.

In our next articles we will discuss what back pain is all about. The anatomy of the back gives doctors and other practitioners clues to courses of treatment. Also, what are the causes of back pain? You could be doing something right now that will eventually lead you down that road of pain and anguish. Learn how to stop it in its tracks.

Lastly, we will explore the treatment options for back pain that are considered “alternative” methods. People have found great success with these treatment options and you may as well. All things don’t work for all people but you will never know what may or may not have worked for you unless you give it a try.

One of the most common complaints that people have is about pain in the back. Back pain can extend anywhere from the neck to the tailbone. It is a wide area with lots of room for injury.

But, back pain can be complicated. If the pain is dull at first, you may ignore it and thereby ignore the cause of the complaint in the first place. Over time, the pain may come back or worsen and you’ll have no idea what caused it.

In the fast paced world we live in, stress is not an uncommon thing. Stress that is unmanaged can lead to all sorts of problems within the body, including back pain. It is, in this case, a byproduct of a larger problem.

With as many reasons for back pain being present, there are also several ways to take care of the problem. It usually begins with a trip to the doctor. This can end with a prescription for medication, a recommendation for surgery or treatment options that you may not have thought of before. In any case, it is important to weigh these options carefully before proceeding, no matter how much pain you are in.