Being a Low Back Pain Exercise Specialist, I’m often ask what are my top tips for back pain. The answers might surprise you, start with :
Hydration – are you really drinking enough water to keep your body functioning well? We need water for muscles, fascia, joints, cells, organs, in fact for everything! Most people are dehydrated, we simply do not drink enough, you should be drinking around 3 ltrs per day and if you are suffering from back pain and want to keep your spine supple, then the first thing you need to do is address your hydration! A great way to start the day is with hot water & lemon, herbal teas count as water and there are so many wonderful flavours out there you should never get tired of them! Make water a priority, get into a habit of drinking water and notice how your back pain improves.Nutrition – Eat anti- inflammatory foods, plenty of veg, particularly green veg, fruit, nuts, seeds, oily fish, grass fed meats and healthy fats like avocado & coconut oil. I would recommend a ‘Greens Drink’ – its an easy way to get enough of the good stuff in your body & you mix it with water, so its a win win! If your in pain, you have inflammation – look at what you’re putting in your body that might be contributing to your inflammation – processed foods, junk foods, gluten, dairy, sugar, trans fats etc?? There are lots of things you can do to help yourself.
Supplements – Fish oils (Omega 3) are a fantastic anti- inflammatory supplement and help reduce muscle and joint pain. Magnesium is the other supplement I would recommend for back pain, most of us are deficient in Magnesium, we need magnesium to contract & relax our muscles, so when back muscles go into spasm, we deplete our magnesium very quickly. Don’t take a magnesium that ends in oxide as we can’t absorb it, make sure it ends in ‘ate’