What Are The Risk Factors for Back Pain?
Here are the main factors that contribute to back pain. Back pain affects at least 40% of the population over the age of 35 every year. Sometimes the pain is quite severe. At that point the pain can affect every aspect of life. Here we go into the risk factors for back pain.
Age
Back pain gets more common as you age. Back pain in people under 30 is much more rare. This becomes a bigger problem between the ages of 30-40 and the problem tends to get worse from there. Why is age such a big factor? probably because the rest of the list we discuss become more common as we age.
Lack of Exercise
Exercise tends to keep muscles tone. The more tone you are the more stability there is in the back for doing normal daily tasks. There are obviously things you need to get done during the day from making your bed to dealing with children. It is important to make sure you have the proper muscle tone to account for the activities that you do daily. Little or no exercise to tone muscles becomes a factor
Excess Weight
Unfortunately it doesn’t take much to gain 20 lbs especially for people in their 40’s or 50’s. But think about how much pressure that puts on your back. That is like carrying around a 20 lb bag or four around every minute of the day. Getting up from a seated position, walking, and running all carry that extra weight. Imagine the pressure it puts if you are more than 20 lbs. It is no wonder this is a factor
Improper lifting
I’m sure you have seen the videos – if you haven’t go to my YouTube channel. Everyone knows you need to lift with your legs and keep your back straight. But that’s hard to remember every time you go to pick something up. Sometimes the position is even harder when you try to do it right. But every time you try to cut a corner, you risk injuring your back. If you are helping a friend move, those bad liftings can add up. You could really be hurting by the end of the day.
Smoking
This isn’t as big of a factor as it used to be. Smoking is kind of going out of style. But those that do are at higher risk of back pain. There are lots of reasons, but the biggest is that the chemicals in the smoke tend to shut down the small blood vessels even in the back. This means that normal activity can be much more likely to cause a back injury. The smaller vessels make the tissues weaker and the heal much slower than they normally would . Smoking can also decrease blood flow to the spine and increase the risk of osteoporosis.
In the next post we will go into what you can do to avoid back pain.
