Four Lifestyle Changes to Make to Avoid a Stiff Back

Almost everyone is familiar with the excruciatingly sharp pain that hurts the back and makes it difficult to move around. And on most days, it makes it difficult for you to even step out of bed. Sadly, over 80% of the adult population across the world has experienced this at some point in their life. And most of us have embraced it as a way of life and continue to live with back pain.

One of the major reasons for it is how the treatment is really expensive and seldom has any effect. If this sounds familiar to you, here’s what you could do. You should make a few lifestyle changes, and soon, you will get rid of troubling backache. Here are a few tips you could start following right away to make the big change of getting rid of that stiff back!

Sitting Straight!

Well, it is easier to slouch forward and lean towards your laptop as you work. But then, that puts a lot of strain on your back muscles and bones. This means you are pushing your back into a posture that is not naturally comfortable for the muscles and in this process you cause the muscles and tendons to get stiff. Eventually, your body will adapt to this new slouching posture and make it difficult for you to sit straight. But with that, will bring you the uncomfortable pain in the shoulder, back, elbow, and hip.

However, you could help yourself by making a conscious effort to sit straight, avoid leaning forward, and maintaining the right posture. But the years of habit of sitting in the wrong posture might make the right one seem uncomfortable. You could ease this by buying a seat cushion that gives you ample lumbar support and helps you sit straight. You will start noticing how your stiff back reduces considerably within a short time.

Quit Smoking

This could be one habit that’s dragging you down. This is because smoking reduces your body’s ability to heal faster. And in that process, it increases the inflammation in the muscles. You will end up feeling tired and sore every day despite not indulging in any heavy physical activity. A study also shows that smoking increases the risk of shoulder pain and causes rotator cuff tears. Besides that, smoking also increases the possibility of you having osteoporosis and also cause the spinal discs to deteriorate.

Avoid Sitting for Long

While at work, we lose track of time and stay seated for hours together. This makes the muscles get stiff and your hip flexors tight. Inactivity is one of the major causes of stiffness besides exercise. Ever noticed how your back starts hurting as soon as you wake up in the morning, but gets better as the day progresses? Well, that might be an issue that could be because of inactivity in the muscles.

While it is impossible to wake up at night and walk every few minutes, you could do that during the day. Instead of sitting at your desk all day long, take a five minutes break every one hour. Take a quick stroll around the room and stretch the muscles in your body. Do this every day, and your stiff muscles will considerably reduce. You will also notice how your back doesn’t feel stiff as soon as you wake up in the morning.

Stay Hydrated

Drink ample fluids, including fresh fruit juices and water. It will help you keep your shock-absorbing pads hydrated and away reduce friction. Dehydration causes stiff muscles and prolonged pain. Your body is dehydrated from the loss of fluids, it could cause heat illness, Charley Horse, arthritis, and muscle strain. All of which are immensely painful and hinder severely with the day-to-day functioning of a person.

Ensure you consume lots of water and other fluids. However, this does not include the consumption of coffee, alcohol, or aerated drinks. You could instead substitute it with fresh fruit drinks, even those with some pulp in it.  Generally, fruits that have high water content like Grapes, Watermelon, Lemon, Orange, etc., are great choices to restore hydration.

These are just a few tips that will help reduce your back muscles’ stiffness and relieve you of that pain. However, if the pain persists despite all these lifestyle changes, do visit a professional. They will be able to help you build the right fitness routine, diet, and other change changes, which will aid you in reducing the pain and stiffness.