4 Tips to keep your spine disc healthy
Would you like to know how to keep your intervertebral disc healthy?
Research has shown vigorous physical activity beneficial for intervertebral disc health. They highlighted those participants with any amount of daily vigorous physical activity have better disc health than those without vigorous activity. Also, participants with greater than 30 minutes of daily moderate to vigorous physical activity have better disc health when compared to participants with less than 30 minutes of daily moderate to vigorous activity.
In addition, participants with high levels of daily sedentary time (greater than 67% of the daily awake time) have diminished disc health compared to individuals with lower sedentary time.?
Take home message
1- Get help from a qualified therapist to help you with the initial training program. (If you don't know where to start). Try this routine at home.
Avoid complete rest and try to contact a qualified therapist who is familiar with back pain and in some cases chronic back pain.
2- You should not avoid exercise, especially weight training.
It is emerging that the amount of exercise you do is more important than the type of exercise. More than 30 minutes per day has the greatest health benefits but any amount you can manage will result in benefit. The benefits of exercise even include reducing the risk of developing back pain.
3- If you are enjoying cardio exercises, it doesn't mean you should avoid them. (Stay active and keep doing what you love).
In many cases, this is a common mistake that most of my patients are doing after experiencing back pain. However, they might have been advised by their therapist, general practitioner or their friends to rest and avoid running etc.
It is normal to have a fear of twisting and bending, but research has shown it is essential to keep moving and staying active would help you recover faster.
4- "Increased dynamic loading through physical activity (go for a walk) and decreased static loading from the sedentary time (avoid seating for long hours) benefit intervertebral disc health.
More tips about back pain and treatment. (Read more)
Our Approach
Dublin Sports Injury Clinic is a Physical Therapy Clinic based in Pearse Street, Dublin 2. We have a high volume of patients who are treated with low back pain. Initially, our treatment will be focusing on helping our patients to get pain free as quickly as possible. We educate our patients to understand the cause of their back pain and how they can stay pain-free. Our treatment and rehabilitation exercises will be customized for every patient and we show them the correct techniques and progression.
Next step
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Reference: Bowden et al. (2017) observed the fluid flow within intervertebral discs as an indicator of health in 26 participants between 25-55years of age.
Disclaimer: This article is for information only and should not be used for the diagnosis or treatment of medical conditions. You can contact us if you would like to book an appointment or get some advice from our therapist.