Most people see old age as a time to relax. The twilight years of one’s life are a chance to enjoy the fruits of decades of labor.
But there’s a flip side to that. For some, old age also means a time when the body starts to deteriorate. And one of the more common manifestations of this is back pain.
Even though some people don’t begin to feel regular, or chronic, back pain until they’re in their 50s, the odds are that the pain is from an injury sometime earlier in life, according to Jerome McAndrews, national spokesperson for the American Chiropractic Association. McAndrews said that childhood injuries sometimes come back to haunt people when they’re much older. Falling off steps or a bike as a child, or hurting oneself when participating in sports as a youth may be only painful in the short term at first, but the injury may actually cause long-term damage.
When it comes to back pain in seniors, “the odds that they’ve been injured some time in their life are very great,” McAndrews said.
He compares the spinal column to a mobile that hangs from a ceiling. When a piece is removed from a mobile, it still functions, but has to shift and adjust to compensate for the loss of one of its parts. The same is true, he said, when a piece is kept from functioning properly within the skeletal system.
One of the keys to relieving back pain is seeking help as soon as possible, according to McAndrews, a chiropractor.
Various studies over the years have estimated that as many as 80 percent of us will experience some type of back pain in our lives, but McAndrews said the number is even higher.
“Fifty percent of us will suffer lower back pain this year alone, and 90 percent will suffer it in our lifetime,” he said. So what can be done to reduce, minimize or altogether eliminate this pain?
Back-pain sufferers should carry out normal activities, but pace themselves and try not to overdo things.
“The main thing we want to do is move from being passive to getting active,” McAndrews said. “There’s nothing like exercise, particularly walking. Twelve minutes a day every other day is sufficient. Twenty minutes is ideal.”
He offered these tips:
• When walking, start slowly on flat ground, then build up to longer walks and gentle slopes. Swimming is excellent exercise — especially back-crawling instead of the breast stroke, which can strain your neck. When your back pain has settled, using an exercise bike is a good way of getting fit. You should keep the saddle high to keep the natural curve in your spine; start gradually and build up.
• Back-pain sufferers who smoke should either give up the habit or cut down, because smoking affects the blood supply to your back, reducing the nutrients getting to your muscles.
• Try to maintain a good posture by not slumping in your chair. “If you still sit in your chair and slump, you remove that normal forward curve in the lower back,” McAndrews said. “When you slump, you compress those lower disks.”
He suggests imagining there’s an invisible cord running from the top of your head to the ceiling that lifts you into a tall, relaxed posture.
McAndrews and other back experts say that a common misperception is that you have to rest a back injury. Bed rest is not a cure, doctors say. If you have back pain, lying in bed won’t help, and may even make it worse. You should lie down during the day only if your pain is unbearable, and if it is still bad after two days, see a physician.