Avoid a world of hurt with these four tips.
As I write this, I’m wearing a large heating pad on my back like a cape. Why? Because when I parked my car at the grocery store, I made the mistake of twisting around to grab shopping bags from the back seat.
I felt a zing of pain in the middle of my back. Uh oh!
Research shows that over a third of U.S. adults have experienced back pain during a three-month period — but few treatments actually work, according to a new study that analyzed hundreds of trials.
So I thought it might be helpful to focus on how to prevent back pain in the first place. I’ve asked orthopedic doctors for their best tips.
Skip the “B.L.T.”
My car incident “is what we euphemistically call the B.L.T.,” or the bend, lift and twist, said Dr. Arthur L. Jenkins III, a neurosurgeon in New York City who specializes in spinal surgery.
Doing all three actions at once, whether by shoveling snow or extracting a child from a car seat, “maximizes the stress on the disc, making it more likely to rupture,” Dr. Jenkins said. “As a spine surgeon, I would never do it.”
If you are about to B.L.T., take a beat and try to do each motion separately, Dr. Jenkins said.
When lifting an object, make sure both feet are planted and your weight is evenly distributed, said Dr. Gbolabo Sokunbi, a spine surgeon at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan. Then lift from your legs instead of your arms and back, he said. Keep heavier items close to your body when picking them up, which puts less strain on your spine, Dr. Sokunbi added.