Stress. It’s something all of us experience during our lives. But did you know stress could be a contributing factor of lower back pain? Whether it’s changing the way we carry ourselves, maintaining some physical activity, or finding outlets for tension (work, relationships, etc.) it is important to take care of our backs.
Taking care of our backs is always important, especially so in times of stress. Avoiding physical activity can negatively affect one’s back pain. Reduced activity is understandable when healing from any kind of pain. Complete inactivity can actually decondition your low back muscles, contributing to the amount of pain experienced. Over simplifying it, it’s kind of a use it or lose it causation. If we do not exercise our muscles, we lose muscle mass and can cause an increase in pain.
While it’s probably not recommended to go out and run a marathon with back pain, inactivity has been shown to correlate with increased pain. Making physical activity a key component to many treatment plans for stress related lower back pain.
Physical activities such as a daily walk, or aquatic therapy can be great regimens for helping reduce back pain. The benefits of walking can include weight loss, mental and emotional energy boosts, and muscle strengthening.
Things going on in our lives like changes in employment, relationship deterioration, and loss of a loved one can be underlying factors of stress. And while emotional and mental hardships may not be the direct source of physical pain in the lower back, they can contribute to increased pain symptoms. Finding assistance via therapy for working thru life’s ups and downs can provide you with stress coping strategies. Figuring out tension triggers and outlining techniques that work for you to deal with difficult situations and people; can also help with reducing stress induced back pain.
And activities and hobbies can also be sources of stress relief. Things like gardening, aquatic therapy, adult coloring books, and even just listening to music have been shown to help with reducing aggravated feelings.