When you are experiencing back pain, your instinct could be to just take pills and not move. The fear of making the pain worse, coupled with spasms when we do move, often lead us to think we should stay keep immobile, but this will usually just prolong the pain, increase stiffness and delay the healing time.
Resting the back is NOT:
- Staying in any one position or activity too long
- Lying down
- Sitting – especially slouching – on the sofa
- Standing, in particular standing still or slightly bent forward
… even if any of the activities do not cause pain at the time!
So What Is Resting the Back?
When I started to write ‘Resting your Back’ I felt I needed to ask the question “What does ‘rest’ mean?”
There are many definitions, the most popular of which are ‘stopping’, ‘inactivity’ and ‘stillness’. However, none of these apply to our backs, which require movement with some lying down correctly to decompress the spine and relax the muscles.
Other definitions which really do not apply to resting our backs are:
- Cease work or movement in order to relax, sleep, or recover strength
- Allow to be inactive in order to regain strength or health
- Be placed or supported so as to stay in a specified position
- A motionless state
In actual fact, most back pain comes from a muscle spasm, so when we “rest” the spine, we need to relax the back muscles and reduce the pressure on the spine. Movement is key to this relaxation. Sometimes at the onset of an acute injury the pain dictates that we need to rest in bed, but this should be for the minimum amount of time before we can introduce movement.
Put simply – resting your back is a change of activity! Resting your back will depend on your work or on what you spend the most time doing.
In light of this, we can reformulate the definition of “rest” as: ‘relief or freedom, especially from the wearisomeness of back pain!’
Other definitions that can help us are ‘refreshing ease or inactivity after exertion or labour, a period of repose, tranquillity or calmness’.
“Put simply – resting your back is a change of activity!”
Why rest the back?
- Mostly because we’re in pain! (Otherwise we don’t think about it.)
- To prevent the back from tightening up or becoming locked.
- To relax the muscles and reduce tension.
- To improve mobility.
Avoiding increased spinal pressure
The following activities, although it might seem obvious, all need to be done with caution:
- Heavy lifting
- Excessive twisting such as hoovering, raking, cutting the grass, or sweeping
- Bending the spine either for long periods or quickly, sharply or excessively
- Sitting or standing for too long
Office Workers
If you’re sitting down all day – in many ways the worst scenario for our spines – “rest” means introducing movement! Get up regularly from sitting, walk regularly, take breaks, use a chair with active movement, or I’m especially keen on a sit-stand desk which would be the most ideal.
Standing Workers (Retail)
Resting your spines may in fact mean sitting for short periods. Even ‘minute’ sitting breaks can release the muscles that may tighten when standing. In breaks, going for a proper walk to help the back muscles move fully or lying down if a quiet space can be found are both good options. I’m not happy with employers who do not allow their employees these opportunities!
Manual Workers
Being active on your feet all day, lifting, bending and kneeling can be much healthier than sitting. Still, resting properly when you have a break is very important.
Sitting for a short while to munch a sandwich is fine, but often when tired we’ll quickly slouch and slump, increasing pressure on the spine, which doesn’t help! An ideal is to eat and then walk to help digestion, or lie down properly for a few minutes. I often recommend tradesmen to carry a foam camping mat (£5 from the supermarket) which can roll out easily in the back of the van, in a park or even in a safe spot on-site to allow them to rest properly.
Active manual workers, remember: after work it can be easy to come home and slouch on the sofa, so if this applies to you, please read on!
Resting at Home
Rest depends on whether you tend to be a couch potato, or if you are too busy and never find a moment to stop! Again, when at home, don’t sit too long. Vary the chair you use and avoid the sofa for long periods. Lie down for short periods, especially if you’re tired.
Resting the back some of the time such as in the semi-supine position or even in bed in the recovery position with a pillow under one knee is beneficial for some of the time – usually 20 -30 minute periods. However, longer than that will cause the muscles to stiffen again.
Many clients have a habit of falling asleep on the sofa, which can so often aggravate the back. If you’re tired, lie down properly or sleep in the bed!
Gardening, Housework and DIY
When carrying out activities around the home, the key thing to remember is to take breaks, and not plan to do too much in one go. It’s all too easy to carry on too long, lift too much, scrub too hard… Think, wait for help to lift that heavy plant pot or shift the sofa around, and please remember to learn the point where you need to STOP and get a professional to do the job for you!
Helpful Gentle Activity Tips
Gentle movements that allow the muscle to relax can be enormously helpful. Muscle spasm can actually reduce more quickly when the muscles are moving with no strain and little effort, allowing blood to circulate within the muscle.
Walking, some short periods of lying down correctly, and pottering about gently with only short periods of standing and sitting are great ways to gently introduce movement when you are suffering from back pain.
Likewise, swimming or gentle non weight-bearing movements supported by water are very beneficial.
It may even simply be other gentle movements, such as bending your knees to your chest, or rocking in the crawling position.
Hurt Is Not Always Harm!
Pain is not necessarily a bad thing. Often when we have back pain, the body’s inclination is to stop and not move, which is often the worst thing we can do. Commonly when the back is in acute spasm, movement can be painful at first but normally loosens up as we walk more, and it is so important to go through this pain of loosening the muscles.
Look for a balance between exercise and strain
There is always a balance between exercise and strain and when we have an injury this becomes a fine line which is difficult to find. Whilst it is important to work through some of the pain of moving the muscles, it is also essential not to continue any activity that causes the muscles to tighten and spasm, and with the case of walking in particular, it may be that walking too far, too long, uphill or on uneven terrain, may bring on the pain. That pain often slowly builds up, and this is an indication to stop and change activity, to ‘rest’ the back by either lying down or sitting for a short period.