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You live a normal live and have a happy settled feeling that you will always be healthy and young. But one day you have a little incident, trigged by a normal thing such as carrying one too many books and you are suddenly introduced to the fascinating world of back pain. It has happened to many people before and a few weeks ago happened to me. And let me tell you that it can be extremely scary to wake up one day not being able to walk or do anything on your own, not even sit down, and having extreme pain, even while laying in bed. I learnt that if you hurt your back, you will have to deal with it for the rest of your life and there would be new rules. So if you are starting to feel a little pain and discomfort in your back pay attention to it. Don’t let it get so bad that you will not even be able to work or function normally. Here some tricks to help your back stay healthy: Keep a healthy exercise routine. Walking as exercise just does not cut it for the back. You need to keep the abdominals strong, as those are the main muscles that support the back effort. Look up for exercises to strengthen the back (such repeats of laying on your stomach and raising yourself on your arms progressively) Keeping a correct position while sitting is important too. Crossing legs is not a very good idea for the back when you starting having little problems. If you are interesting in protecting your back you may consult a personal couch in a physiotherapy facility. They will guide you in one hour to a routine fit to your personal circumstance. Tricks to go the pain go away You can use a little Ibuprofen (Advil) if you are in pain, if it is too great, you need to go to the doctor because anti-inflammatory pills such as Voltaren are not over the counter available. For easing the pain in mild cases you can use a hot pack on the area for 15 minutes. IF the pain is great then don’t use the hot water as it will inflammation the area more, use a 15 ice pack instead. Remember not to overdo the time limit as it also contributes to make the inflammation worse. Do not sit in soft chairs or couches, firmer chairs are better. And remember to get up every twenty minutes or so and walk (do this before the pain starts). Other daily life smart solutions Never pick up anything with your legs locked. You need to bend your knees all the way down to meet the weight you are carrying. Always keep the weight close to your chest. As per bags, the best are light small backpack, as they put equal stress on all your back. To avoid any problem to your back or knees it is very advisable not to carry any weight. So thinking long term for your back, use when possible a wheeled carry-on style bag when going to the grocery store. Many people love taking their laptops to cafes and I understand, that is the main raison-d’etre of laptops, but when it comes to back problems the usual weight of a laptop is just too much. My advise is to get an ultra-light laptop which as a bonus has the advantage of being very cheap (from 299 to 400 dollars): under 2 pounds of weight. See into the great ASUS Eee mini-laptop available since last December. These amazingly compact machines may be put into a woman’s purse and have a full keyboard and a 7’’ screen. Finally, the best idea in my opinion is to carry with you strictly what is necessary and keep a certain economy in the weight you those items you choose as musts. I mean this specially for us women, I see that we most usually carry oversized bags with tons of essentials that really, if we are honest, can be left at home or at the office. Let us take the good example of men who usually only carry what their back pockets can fit.
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