One of the common problems faced with people sitting for longer period is back pain. With the prevailing conditions, where COVID-19 has shifted work to home, spending long hours on your computer or mobile screens is the new normal.

Back pain can range from a muscle aching to a shooting, burning or stabbing sensation. In addition, the pain may radiate down your leg or worsen with bending, twisting, lifting, standing or walking. Back pain is one of the most common reasons people go to the doctor or miss work, and it is a leading cause of disability worldwide as stated in mayoclinic.org.

It is crucial to not stay in such pain for long as this lifestyle problem needs to be cured and crushed with normal changes. Fortunately, you can take measures to prevent or relieve most back pain episodes. If prevention fails, simple home treatment and proper body mechanics often will heal your back within a few weeks and keep it functional. Surgery is rarely needed to treat back pain, writes down the mayo clinic staff.

Besides the normal back pain, if you develop Sciatica, is pain caused by problems with the sciatic nerve, which runs from the lower back, down the back of each leg to the feet (www.southerncross.co.nz) is truly at next level, something you wished you never got!

As explained in the Southern Cross medical library, Sciatic pain occurs when there is pressure on, or damage to, the sciatic nerve. The most common cause is a herniated disc (also known as slipped disc or disc prolapse). This occurs when one of the soft, gel-filled discs between the vertebrae of the spine bulges or ruptures, compressing and/or irritating the sciatic nerve. Muscle spasms can also cause sciatica by compressing the sciatic nerve as it travels through the muscles.

While back pain leading to sciatica or due to sciatica can have pain and symptoms are usually most severe in the early stages of the condition, when compression and inflammation of the sciatic nerve are at their greatest. It is common for the pain to gradually reduce until it resolves completely - usually within four to eight weeks.

Prevention

Maintain correct posture when standing, walking and sitting
Undertake exercise that maintains fitness, strength and flexibility in the abdominal and spinal muscles
Practice safe lifting techniques. When lifting bend, the knees, keep the back straight and hold the object close to your body. By doing this, the strain is taken by the hips and legs, rather than the lower back
Ensure that your back is well supported when seated. Use chairs that provide good back support and are designed to provide a good seating posture. A lumber roll or contoured cushion can help to provide lower back support
Quit smoking
Maintain a healthy body weight.

While the given preventions can help not only during the nerve pain but can also be beneficial for long term cure for the pain. In case you are suffering from something similar or need to know more information contact your GP or consult a physiotherapist for getting it all right.

-Vritti Parasher

How to avoid back pain while sitting