Johnson Chiropractic Shares Tips for Lifting Safely to Prevent Back Pain
Did you hear how lifting can be hard on a low back? If you are a Richmond chiropractic patient with low back pain, you have! You’ve likely even experienced it directly. Johnson Chiropractic explains proper lifting techniques to our back pain patients early on in treatment. It is essential to protect the spine while it heals! New studies suggest that back supports and even hand support techniques during lifting can help.
MECHANICAL LOADING DURING LIFTING
Mechanical loading is a major risk factor for low back pain. The loading may be from a heavy or light object that triggers Richmond back pain. Much of how the pain comes on is via the response of back muscles during the lift. Newly designed “exoskeletons” are being tried. They go beyond a back brace but demonstrate some promise in decreasing lumbar flexion and lowering the compressive force on the back by 13-21% while bending. Peak compressive force during lifting was lowered by 14%. The researchers are hopeful that such devices could lower the risk of compression-related tissue failure while lifting. (1) For now, Johnson Chiropractic focuses on what’s accessible today to help our Richmond back pain patients control their back pain once the pain is diminished by controlling their spine-related motions.
CHIROPRACTIC LIFTING TIPS
It would seem that there would be a big difference in spine action between picking up a pencil and lifting a crate, but there isn’t much difference when it comes to how the low back responds while lifting. Interesting! Researchers wanted to see if the common way most people pick things up off the floor – with a hand on a thigh for support – made a difference. They proposed that it would result in reduced load on the back. The volunteers lifted two kinds of things - a pencil and a crate - off the floor with researchers recording every move and muscle response. Using a hand on the thigh for support while bending for the pencil on the floor decreased the average peak total stresses by 17 to 25% (depending on the lifting method). Hand support while lifting the crate reduced the peak total stresses by 13-19% for one-handed lifting and 14-26% for two-handed lifting. (2) Hand support while lifting may protect the low back. Johnson Chiropractic has some other approaches to limit lifting stresses on the spine to control Richmond back pain and its reappearance: support belts to exercise to spinal manipulation to back school. It’s a comprehensive treatment plan you will want to embrace!
CONTACT Johnson Chiropractic
Listen to the PODCAST with Dr. Matthew Alexander on the Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he describes the effective, gentle treatment with the Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management for his patient with spinal stenosis and low back pain.
Make your next Richmond chiropractic appointment with Johnson Chiropractic. Lifting can put stress on the the lumbar spine. Chiropractic care alleviates the stress on the low back for back pain relief. Call us today!
