Happy New Year!
2019 is coming to an end. As we embrace the new year, and you are making your New Year’s Resolutions to finally kick back pain to the curb, keep these points in mind. Because as a society approximately 80% of us have or will experience back pain, this is the perfect season to resolve to beat the odds. At an annual health care burden in the billions of dollars, lower back pain is a scourge felt worldwide. But these New Year’s Resolutions can help you overcome one of the leading causes of disability worldwide.
- Exercise at least 20 minutes a day, 7 days a week.
- Stop smoking.
- Eat at least 6 servings of fruits and vegetables a day.
- Get more and better sleep.
- Seek help if your symptoms are not resolving.
Exercise for Your Back Pain
It may seem counter intuitive to exercise a part of your body that may be injured or in pain but science regularly backs this up. Therefore, one of the best interventions for both acute (new) and chronic (old) pain is graded exposure to exercise. If you are unsure of where or how to begin an exercise program while in pain, see resolution #5 – Seek Help!
Stop Smoking
Needless to say this is old news for a variety of health reasons, but in terms of back pain, smoking is very bad for both pain intensity experienced, healing time, and outcomes overall. I recently wrote a blog on this very subject here.
Eat Your Fruits and Veggies
When you consume more fruits and vegetables your body heals better, this is well documented in the scientific literature. Vitamin A is required for cell and bone formation, cellular differentiation, and immune function. Vitamin C is necessary for collagen and connective tissue formation and as a tissue antioxidant. Fruits and vegetables also contain fiber which is filling and satiety will reduce cravings for more inflammatory foods (processed foods, sweets, chips, etc.) which should be avoided when healing.
Better Sleep, Better health
Two recent studies in just the past month or two have shed more light on the important role sleep plays in your health outcomes. In one study which was discussed in this article, lack of and poor quality sleep was shown to increase pain felt by up to 30%. Furthermore, in another recent example, a study showed how sleep helps to clean the brain and allow your body to remove toxins.
Ask for Help
The human body is resilient. You are highly adaptable and given the right inputs the body will take care of the output. But garbage in = garbage out. So if you are experiencing back pain, make some simple (but not easy) lifestyle changes to give yourself the greatest chance to recover. Or if you are unsure of how to make these changes, don’t hesitate to reach out and get some help.
Dr. Erik Reich is available for appointments Monday – Friday and can be reached by phone at (203)235-0171.