Back pain and your position

The complaint of low back pain is a common medical problem. Pain is an important indicator of sickness. Although it can be a frustrating problem, but most episodes of back pain resolve.
There is life threatening diseases that imitate these pains. If you are suffering constant pain in your back and does not seem to be getting better after 2 weeks, do not ignore and contact a qualified doctor. In following situations, you should immediately consult with a physician:
a) Leg, foot, groin or rectal area feels numb
b) Pain goes down to your leg
c) Lose control over going to the washroom
d) You have fever, sweating or severe pain or the pain is related to injury
Understanding the root cause of back pain is the key to right treatment. While talking about the list of causes, we often think about arthritis, osteoporosis or injury related or getting old age. We also talk about muscle strain or sprains of ligaments (which attach bone to bone), swollen joints or a 'slipped disk'.
But there could be something else; like prostate cancer, pancreatic cancer and kidney stones. There can be back pain also due to bone cancers or chronic autoimmune disease.
The most common cause is using your back muscles in activities you are not used to, like lifting heavy furniture or boxes. So, do not lift by bending over. Lift an object by bending your knees and squatting to pick up the object. Keep your back straight and hold the object close to your body. If you do not have any alternative, push rather than pull when you move heavy objects.
Doctors at the woodend hospital( Scotland) are using a new form of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to show that sitting in an upright position places unnecessary strain on back, leading to potentially chronic pain problems if you spend long hours sitting.
According to Dr Waseem Amir Bashir, author and clinical fellow in the Department of Radiology and Diagnostic Imaging at the University of Alberta Hospital, (Canada), 'a 135-degree body-thigh sitting posture was demonstrated to be the best biomechanical sitting position, as opposed to a 90-degree posture, which most people consider normal'. He found that sitting in a sound anatomic position is essential, since the strain put on the spine and its associated ligaments over time can lead to pain, deformity and chronic illness.
When there is pain, the best position for relief is to lie on your back on the floor with pillows under your knees, with your hips and knees bent and your feet on a chair, or just with your hips and knees bent. This takes the pressure and weight off your back. It is better to take 1 or 2 days of this sort of rest. Resting longer than this can cause muscles to weaken, which may slow the recovery. According to some researchers, even if it hurts, walk around for a few minutes every hour.