When you have back pain... should you exercise or not?
Lower back pain, or lumbar pain, refers to pain in the lower back and surrounding areas. Lower back pain is very common. Since it is a symptom experienced as frequently as a cold in daily life, it is easy to dismiss it as insignificant.
In fact, lower back pain is a symptom that most people who work sitting down experience. The probability of experiencing back pain at some point in life is about 80% of the population. Among them, 14% complain of lower back pain for more than two weeks, and 2% of those also have pain in the back and legs, with only 1% of these being patients who will undergo surgery.
Most back pain is simple lower back pain that improves just by correcting lifestyle habits. According to a spinal neurosurgeon, even severe lower back pain can be managed well with medication and physical therapy, reducing pain and allowing for a normal life.
So, should people with back pain but no underlying health conditions exercise or not? Regarding this, there is research showing that you should not reduce exercise by using back pain as an excuse; instead, exercising more frequently can improve the symptoms.
A research team at the University of Alberta in Canada observed 240 patients with chronic lower back pain over 16 weeks, dividing them into four groups: those who exercised 2, 3, or 4 days a week, and those who did not exercise at all.
As a result, people who exercised for four days showed an improvement in quality of life, such as reduced back pain and fatigue, compared to other groups.
28% of people who exercised 4 days experienced reduced pain, compared to 18% for 3 days and 14% for 2 days. Additionally, physical and mental quality of life increased by 28%, 22%, and 16% respectively, depending on the group.
The research team said, "There is a common belief that people with back pain should not exercise frequently, but this study shows that lifting weights about four days a week can reduce pain and improve quality of life."
This research finding was presented at the American College of Sports Medicine conference under the title "Exercise More, Not Less, To Ease Aching Back" to alleviate back pain.
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A few years ago, I suffered a lot from back pain.
Back pain, like other health issues,
They say walking is the best, so
I really walked along the creek on my way home from work for a long time.
Walking while listening to the radio,
In the evening, I do a lot of stretching that also straightens my back.
Then it really works well.