Back Injury Prevention: An Overview
Recurring
back pain resulting from improper body mechanics or other nontraumatic causes is often preventable. In order to help prevent injuries, people can:
- Do a combination of exercises that don't jolt or strain the back
- Maintain correct posture
- Lift objects properly.
There are a number of things you can do as part of preventing back injury, such as:
- Exercise
- Diet
- Proper back care at work and home.
Exercises That Can Prevent Back Injury
One of the best things you can do as part of back injury prevention is to exercise regularly and keep your back muscles strong. Exercises that increase balance and strength can decrease your risk of falling and injuring your back or breaking bones. Exercises such as tai chi and yoga -- or any weight-bearing exercise that challenges your balance -- are good for increasing balance and strength.
Proper Diet as a Part of Back Injury Prevention
Maintaining a healthy diet is also important in preventing back injuries because maintaining a healthy weight will help you avoid putting unnecessary and injury-causing stress and strain on your back. In order to keep your spine strong, you will need to get enough
calcium and vitamin D in your diet, which will help prevent
osteoporosis.
Osteoporosis is responsible for a lot of the bone fractures that lead to back pain. Calcium can be found in dairy products; green, leafy vegetables; and fortified products, like orange juice. Although your skin makes vitamin D when you are in the sun, you can obtain it from your diet as well.
Vitamin D is found in milk and foods that are fortified with this nutrient. However, most adults do not get enough calcium and vitamin D in their diet. Therefore, you should talk to your doctor about how much calcium and vitamin D you need per day, and consider taking a nutritional supplement or a multivitamin.
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