How can you manage lower back pain better?
A recent study investigated how people’s lifestyles and emotional health affected their level of disability from episodes of low back pain*. By level of disability, they meant how much the person’s life is affected by low back pain.
The study results showed that people who adopted positive lifestyle behaviours and positive emotional health factors were more resilient and able to maintain a higher level of function despite having episodes of back pain. Basically, their back pain didn’t cause them as much trouble in going about their daily lives.
The positive lifestyle factors they measured were;
– Stopping smoking, improving sleep to 8 hours/night, consistently exercising 20 min per day, having little to no alcohol, and having a BMI of 25 or less (a measure of healthy body weight)
The emotional health factors they measured were;
– Absence of depressed mood, perceived stress, and active coping skills.
If you can keep all these things in order, then getting back pain will have a less negative impact on your life.
It’s a pretty high standard to meet!! But even if you can improve on some of these factors, it improves your resilience if a problem arises. Maybe pick one today that you think you could work on.
* Roberts K, Beckenkamp P, Ferreira M, Duncan G, Calais-Ferreira L, Gatt J, Ferreira P (2022) Positive lifestyle behaviours and emotional health factors are associated with low back pain resilience. Euro Spine Journal. Published online.
