Does your back pain get worse when you bend over? 

To begin with, bending over is one of the most common causes of back pain, and for most people it all begins with body mechanics. Look at how a child squats down by its knees to inspect something on the ground or retrieve a dropped item. Bending from the knees is the correct way to do things, but at a certain point, we completely forget how to do just that. Instead, most adults bend from the waist. Because we are so much taller and heavier, it is just seems easier to bend from the waist. But be warned: you are sacrificing your back each time you bend this way. 

What happens when we consistently bend from the waist? 

Bending from the waist strains your muscles. The body simply isn’t meant to move that way for simple motions like picking something up or, worse, lifting something heavy. Bending from the waist causes strain to supportive soft tissues and moves your vertebrae out of alignment. It also causes the discs that accentuate the spine to be squeezed from the front and move backward. Do this to your discs enough times and they are bound to suffer injury. In addition, the added strain of bending can exacerbate already standing injuries. 

Start bending properly today

If you have noticed that your back pain gets worse when you bend over, give our office in Dunedin a call to schedule an appointment today. We want to help you determine the underlying cause of the pain and set a course for treatment. Sometimes all it takes is to address and correct improper body mechanics that are leaving your spine out of whack.