Triggers for back problems, there are very different, orthopedic dr. Andreas Lunzer (med4spine.at): "The main causes are too little or one-sidedly trained muscles, heavy lifting, which is done wrong, or office jobs, where you hardly move all day long from the place, and then there is a trigger Do not make many aware, namely stress, hectic, inner restlessness and lack of relaxation almost always lead to tension in the body and subsequently to bad posture. " But no matter what the cause, the best prevention is always exercise and muscle building. "A good musculature works like a corset for the spine, it is less likely to tension, the intervertebral discs are spared and do not wear out so quickly," says Lunzer. "Well-trained muscles are a must, and the abdomen has to be strong too – if the muscles are not there, the pelvis tilts forward and the lumbar spine becomes too strained," emphasizes Thomas Kern, Personal Trainer and Managing Director of EMS expert MANDU (In this training, the muscle is amplified by low-frequency current pulses, mandu.at). "But not everyone craves hours of training in the gym, and muscle building is much faster with the electrical impulse of EMS training, saving time for the sport you really want to do." For the back, he recommends, for example, Nordic walking, cross-country skiing, backstroke, crawling, climbing, boxing or yoga. "It's important that it's fun, otherwise you will not be there." But there are also sports that hurt the spine: "Fast, jerky rotational movements such as tennis, squash or golf are poison for a damaged back."
Relief in everyday life
A big problem is sitting jobs on the computer, where you move very little. Since quitting is usually not a solution, Kern recommends cycling to work or walking for a while on the bike: "It's a small movement unit in the morning, so get up in the morning and let your shoulders down Tense your head, occasionally tense the buttocks, it also activates the abdominal muscles, use a headset instead of jamming the receiver, and get up and walk around for a few steps. " The workplace should also be as ergonomic as possible. Expert Lunzer emphasizes: "Bad are laptops, there is, much like when surfing on the smartphone, the cervical spine curved too much, put in between the head in the neck and move it to the left and right several times." If you are sitting in front of a screen, the look should just fall on it. Special office chairs and height-adjustable tables can help with back problems. As an uncomplicated and cheaper alternative, Lunzer recommends sitting on an exercise ball in between: "This unstable surface activates the entire back muscles, which relieves the spine and intervertebral discs."
Stress and pain
An important trigger many people are unaware of is stress. "Too much pressure on us, this leads to muscle tension, the blood circulation is deteriorating, so the intervertebral discs are not so well supplied, it comes to increased wear," explains the orthopedist not necessarily immediately apparent relationship. Switching to low gear now would be the completely wrong approach. "Any kind of restraint only aggravates the symptoms, which can lead to serious problems and chronic pain in the long term." These in turn are extremely stressful for the psyche. Even depressive moods can follow. This should not be taken lightly because it can lead to an interaction. If you have permanent pain, the mood worsens, which in turn increases the pain. "Especially at night, they are often more intense," says Lunzer. "The cause is not just a physical nature, but lying awake gives you time to ponder about problems, which in turn negatively affects your sense of pain." Questioning the problems, on the other hand, is an important part of the therapy just as "a positive attitude" is extremely important for the healing process ", as the orthopedist emphasizes.