How to cure lower back ache

17th May 2012

The human spine is one of evolution's big mistakes. We were never meant to walk upright and as a result, a large proportion of people suffer from back pains of one sort or another. While we wait for evolution to catch up and solve the problem, there are a few things we can do to help ourselves.

Apart from injuries, one of the main causes of back pain is posture and an imbalance in our muscular development. Bad posture can cause upper back and neck problems. This is especially common in people who spend a lot of time in front of a computer, at a desk, or bent over a drawing board. Stringent health and safety measures in the workplace have helped to alleviate this, but some people still spend too much time sitting in one position and need to be strict with themselves when it comes to taking breaks, even if it is to just stand up.

The modern workplace is a very unnatural environment when we consider what our bodies are best developed to do; roaming around outside foraging and hunting for food.

People who are more active or have less sedentary jobs do not suffer so much from back problems.

Scandinavia is slightly more advanced than other western countries when it comes to treating its workforce humanely and many of their salary slaves have had their workplaces adapted to take into consideration our nature for moving around. Active workstations are becoming more common whereby desks and chairs can be easily adjusted at the touch of a button from a seating position to a standing position. Workers are advised to change their position regularly throughout the day.

Lower back problems are often associated with poor knee joints and are both possibly the result of an imbalance in the upper leg muscles. Over- or underdeveloped muscles in the thigh, known as the quadriceps, in comparison to the muscles in the back of the leg, known as the hamstrings, can add pressure to the knees and lower back. The stronger muscle pulls in an unbalanced manner on the joint, leading to pain. In order to overcome this problem, we need to tackle the weakness through exercise although some simple stretching exercises can provide immediate relief.

The exercises that target the hamstrings and the quadriceps are the deadlift and the squat but leg extensions and leg curls can also be used.

I have found that the absolutely best resource for fitness and exercising is exrx.net. All exercises are described in detail, outlining the target muscle as well as the muscles used as synergists and stabilisers with a video showing the exercise being performed.

Here you can see the full squat although it may be wise to start without any additional resistance and perhaps by not doing the complete movement.

And here you can see the deadlift which again to start with it may be better to do this without the added weight.

A few months of neglect and a number of weeks sleeping on a bed with no mattress when I first arrived in Finland, resulted in quite debilitating lower back pain. This was immediately cured by my first visit to the gym doing simple leg curls and extensions and leg raises which, while targeting the rectus abdominas, also uses the iliopsoas in the lower back as a synergist.

It is advisable to seek medical advice before embarking on an exercise programme but exercise is recommended over painkillers and can be quite surprisingly immediate in its effectiveness. You could start out by just doing squats followed by touching your toes while keeping your legs straight, say, ten times each with a rest between a total of three sets.