If you experience persistent or periodic back pain, it may seem like the best thing to do is to stop doing activities that seem to harm it. But it is important to understand that your back and your body need to move regularly to function at its best and that participating in regular physical activity is an important step in recovery. In fact, “protecting” you back through inactivity may be contributing to the pain.
It may also be important to step back into physical activity gradually, both to get your body used to activity again and to convince yourself that it is beneficial to be active.
If you’ve been inactive for a prolonged period of time, you may need to use a gradual approach. Your muscles and joints may be tight and your cardiovascular system may not be at its best. Try this simple, three-step plan to regaining all activities, adapted from Dr. Ronald’s Siegel’s Back Sense program.
Step One. List all of the activities that you’ve stopped, modified or restricted because of the pain you’ve experienced in your back. It may take awhile to compile this list if it’s been a long time since you began protecting your back. Be thorough and complete, including all areas of your life, from sports and leisure to housework and personal care.
Step Two. For each activity, rate how much you enjoy the activity and how difficult you perceive the activity to be. You may wish to use a scale such as enjoy/ok/dislike and easy/moderate/difficult.
Step Three. Next, review your list and select an item to resume. Begin with an activity that you find both enjoyable and easy to do and make a plan to do this activity in the next 24 hours. Remember to take slow, deep breaths during the activity because previous pain experiences may be signaling to your brain that it needs protection (by tightening muscles) and this response could make movement uncomfortable. Direct deep breaths to any muscles that may be resisting activity. Walking is a great activity to start with for most people.
Over time, make your way through your list until you can do everything that you wish to do and have fully regained all desired activities. It may take some time, both from a physical standpoint and to convince you that it is all right to move again. Each time you regain an activity you will be building self-efficacy and have more confidence that you can go on to the next activity.
Enjoy all of the benefits of physical activity, including stress relief, a healthy spine and body, enjoyment of activities and a full, active life. Being physically active will also help you in many other ways, from the physical to the social and psychological and by using the byproducts of the stress response and bringing your metabolism back to baseline after prolonged stress.
Start the process of doing everything that you wish to do – today!
