As I write this, I’m wearing a large heating pad on my back like a cape. Why? Because when I parked my car at the grocery store, I made the mistake of twisting around to grab shopping bags from the back seat.
I felt a zing of pain in the middle of my back. Uh oh!
Research shows that over a third of U.S. adults have experienced back pain during a three-month period — but few treatments actually work, according to a new study that analyzed hundreds of trials.
So I thought it might be helpful to focus on how to prevent back pain in the first place. I’ve asked orthopedic doctors for their best tips.
Skip the “B.L.T.”
My car incident “is what we euphemistically call the B.L.T.,” or the bend, lift and twist, said Dr. Arthur L. Jenkins III, a neurosurgeon in New York City who specializes in spinal surgery.
Doing all three actions at once, whether by shoveling snow or extracting a child from a car seat, “maximizes the stress on the disc, making it more likely to rupture,” Dr. Jenkins said. “As a spine surgeon, I would never do it.”
If you are about to B.L.T., take a beat and try to do each motion separately, Dr. Jenkins said.
When lifting an object, make sure both feet are planted and your weight is evenly distributed, said Dr. Gbolabo Sokunbi, a spine surgeon at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan. Then lift from your legs instead of your arms and back, he said. Keep heavier items close to your body when picking them up, which puts less strain on your spine, Dr. Sokunbi added.
Avoid twisting altogether by having your feet face whatever you’re lifting, Dr. Jenkins added.
And be especially careful in any situation that involves heavy objects, Dr. Sokunbi advised. “I’m in my mid 40s, and I no longer help family members move furniture,” he said.
Don’t play pickleball without warming up first.
Dr. Alpesh Patel, a spine surgeon at Northwestern Medicine, often sees patients “running into trouble” with activities such as pickleball, paddle tennis and golf.
“Many people think of these as low-risk sports,” Dr. Patel said. But these activities, he said, can be jarring on the spine and often involve abrupt twisting.
For the spine, “flexibility is key,” Dr. Patel said. So build in a warm-up and stretching routine before and during these sports, recommended Dr. Patel. “For example, with golf, add a low back and chest stretch every three holes.”
Don’t overload your carry-on bag.
Several experts said they often saw patients who injured themselves lifting heavy carry-on bags into the overhead compartment of planes.
“That’s not a motion most people do every day,” Dr. Sokunbi said. So be mindful not to overload your luggage, he advised.
Before you leave for the airport, test your carry-on bag’s weight, said Dr. Rahul Shah, an orthopedic spine surgeon in New Jersey.
Lift the bag to your waist and assess whether it can be done without difficulty, he said. If not, he said, remove some items. Then see if you can lift the bag from waist level to overhead level.
“This should be a distinct, two-step process,” Dr. Shah said, because the muscles that lift the bag from floor to waist are significantly stronger than those that take it from waist to overhead. Use the same two-step process on the plane, he added. And if you’re traveling with a strong companion, he said, ask them to help you.
It’s always safer to check all of your bags, especially if you already have back issues, said Dr. Jacob Joseph, a neurosurgeon at University of Michigan Health specializing in spinal injuries.
“I personally never take a carry-on bag on planes anymore,” he said.
Steer clear of situps.
The Marine Corps phased out crunches from its physical fitness test because the exercises come with “an increased risk of injury, including lower back pain.” Instead, they subbed in planks.
While situps and crunches can strengthen your core, Dr. Joseph said, they may put a lot of stress on the discs in your spine. Core-strengthening exercises such as planks, Pilates, swimming, yoga and the elliptical machine “are a lot healthier for your back in general,” he said.
Good habits can protect your back, too, said Dr. Patricia Zheng, an associate professor in the orthopedic surgery department at University of California San Francisco.
If you sit a lot during the day, get up and move every hour to take pressure off your spine, Dr. Zheng said. Set a timer if you have to, she added.
I’d love to plug in my cape at the office, but I don’t want to alarm my co-workers. So I’ll leave it at home and try to dial down my back pain with plenty of walking.
And I’m done with the B.L.T. — unless it’s lunchtime.
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