Life After Back Pain: Healing the Body and Mind

Anyone who has survived painful back problems knows that once the pain has subsided, we need to be more careful of ourselves. In order not to re-injure a spine that has been hurt previously by a herniated disk, for example, we need to be more conscious of how we move, bend and lift.

Excruciating lumbar spinal pain taught me to stop sleeping in pretzel formations, avoid sitting on uncomfortable office chairs and be extra careful when picking up anything. Having survived twelve very long weeks of being unable to walk, sit up or do much of anything else, I have a new lease on life.

Each day, it helps to do stretches and walking. Physical activity is best to do carefully, and gently, in my case. Slowly, my stamina builds and the muscles in my legs strengthen. There is no more pain now, and to keep it that way, it pays to make my body as limber and toned as possible. My being somewhat of a couch potato helped to cause my back pain in the first place, so now it is time to undo that bad habit. Buying a recumbent exercise bicycle and using it daily has helped to build my heart rate while taking pressure off of my lumbar spine.

To help my spine from getting compressed (the main cause for the pain I’d had), it is important for me to use a lumbar wedge pillow on my chair when working all day at my desk. I bought a chair with superior lumbar support, but to be safe, got the cushion too. I’d bought nice office chairs in the past, all having so-called lumbar support, but in fact, many of them didn’t help my back at all. The chair I bought now is more heavily padded, with memory foam, in the places that matter most to my spine.

In order to keep a healthy spine, it is important to have a good mattress or mattress pad, to make sleeping as supportive and comfortable as possible. I bought a four inch slab of memory foam for my mattress, and it molds itself to my back every night, taking pressure off of areas that previously were aggravated by sleeping with less support. Now, I sleep better and wake up pain-free.

A few adjustments to everyday life can help protect your back from recurring pain. Some problems, such as arthritis, cannot be avoided. In those cases, it is our job to make ourselves as comfortable as possible, with advice from our doctors and physical therapists.

By learning from experts, we learn how to cope with everything and incorporate what we’ve learned into our daily lives to keep us as pain-free as possible.