How To Keep Your Spine Healthy

As pain management doctors, we understand that spine health is crucial to the body's vital functions. The spine provides structural support to our body and helps us maintain an upright posture. Daily activities like walking, getting up, and bending over can become extremely difficult and painful without a healthy spine. 

Here are some tips to keep in mind to help you maintain a healthy spine:

1. Enhance Back Strength and Flexibility

Robust and flexible back muscles help support the three curves of the spine. They do so by holding the vertebrae and discs in proper alignment. Muscles that strengthen the spine at the back include: 

• Flexor muscles. With the help of flexor muscles, the lower back can flex, bend forward, lift, and arch. These muscles are attached to the front of the spine.

• Extensor muscles. These muscles are attached to the back of the spine that enable you to stand and lift objects. 

• Oblique muscles. These muscles are attached to the sides of the spine. They assist in rotating the spine and maintaining proper posture.

An effective stretching and strengthening program should target the muscles of the back, abdomen, and buttocks. Exercises that strengthen your back muscles, such as cardiovascular exercise and weightlifting, can help. Taking part in activities like yoga and Tai Chi can help increase flexibility and stretch muscles at the back. 

2. Keeping a Healthy Weight

Your spine is designed to handle movement and pressure. Being overweight or obese can strain your spine, resulting in unwanted or even debilitating pain, especially at the base of your spine. 

There is growing evidence that obesity is strongly linked to biomechanical changes that damage the spine and cause a range of spinal diseases, including: 

• intervertebral disc degeneration
• spinal stenosis
• reduced disc height
• herniation of the disc
• hypertrophy of the spinal ligaments
• Osteoarthritis 
• increased compression forces on the disc surface.

Maintaining a healthy weight reduces the stress placed on your spine, reducing the risk of developing spinal diseases. 

3. Let Your Spine Really Rest While Sleeping

A good night's rest can give your spine the proper time to recuperate. A supportive and comfortable mattress and pillows will allow your spine to relax during this time.

A proper sleeping position is also necessary to lessen the stress on your spine, giving it adequate time to recover. 

How Can You Maintain Good Spine Health While You Sleep?

Keeping your spine in a neutral position during sleep - including your head - is essential. Back pain in the cervical and lumbar regions has been linked to poor sleeping posture during the night.

When you have a neutral spine, your muscles remain long and loose rather than flexed. Therefore, you are less likely to get soreness or tightness in any body part. Additionally, a neutral spine posture keeps your body symmetrical, keeping your muscles from overworking on one side.

Here are the best sleep positions for spine health, in order: 

• Lying flat on your back. You can achieve a relaxed posture by lying flat with your head, neck, and spine aligned in a relaxed position. Additionally, lying flat reduces the stress on your spine by distributing your weight across your body.

• Lying on your side. Even though sleeping on your back is best, it can be challenging for some. Sleeping on your side is also recommended - but make sure your legs are elongated to keep your spine neutral. 

• Fetal position.This is the most popular position. However, curling your body up too tight may experience stiffness and soreness, especially as you age. The key to sleeping this way is to relax your body position and untuck your chin if necessary.

• Sleeping on your stomach. Sleeping in this position is terrible for your spine. Sleeping with the neck twisted can lead to neck pain caused by muscle strains. Soreness in the shoulders and upper back can also result from a twisted head and neck. The unnatural position of your feet pointed down into the mattress when sleeping on your stomach puts pressure on your knee joints.

4. Stop Smoking

Smoking dramatically affects your spine health via the following processes: 

• Smoking can cause plaque buildup inside small arteries that supply the intervertebral discs. If these vessels get blocked, there would be impaired nutrient supply to the intervertebral discs, causing accelerated degeneration of your spine. This puts you at risk for vertebral degeneration or spondylosis. 

• Smoking disrupts normal cellular function in the spine, causing early degeneration. 

• Smoking promotes autoimmunity, resulting in your immune system fighting against your body.  Autoimmunity results in cartilage loss and puts the patient at risk for back pain. 

5. Make Every Effort to Stand

Sitting for prolonged periods can significantly cause back pain due to the tremendous pressure on the back muscles and spinal discs. Your spine is compressed 30% more by sitting instead of standing. Moreover, slouching can cause spinal ligaments and discs to overstretch.

6. Maintain a Healthy Diet 

Healthy diets can do wonders for your spine, especially if you follow them regularly. Several foods can help keep your back healthy and strong. Therefore, making the right food choices is the first step to maintaining spine health.

Here are some foods that work best to contribute to your spine health. 

Green leafy vegetables 

Green leafy vegetables are rich in various vitamins, magnesium, iron, and calcium. These nutrients are beneficial for bone growth and neurological health. 

Fruits 

Fruits like blackberries, strawberries, and blueberries are excellent sources of vitamin C and antioxidants that protect tissues and remove toxins from your body. It also helps to prevent spinal and central nervous system damage. 

Dairy products 

Calcium and vitamin D are plentiful in milk, cheese, and yogurt. Nutrients such as these are essential for building and maintaining healthy bones and preventing nerve damage. 

Salmon

The omega-3 fatty acids and lean protein in salmon make it an excellent source of nutrition. Omega-3 fatty acids help in improving bone health and combat inflammation.

Why Is Spine Health Important? 

The importance of spine health cannot be overstated. A healthy spine is essential since it controls the body's vital functions. Besides providing structural support to the body, the spine also helps keep us upright. 

Moreover, it is responsible for transmitting sensory information such as pressure, touch, cold, warmth, pain, and sensations to the skin, muscles, joints, and internal organs. Poor spinal health may cause sensory responses to be interrupted, and certain parts of the body lose their sensation. As the disease progresses, the motor function of the nerve may be impaired, resulting in weakness or even paralysis.

Your Spine Health Matters 

A healthy spine comes a long way, especially as you age. If you are looking for an online pain doctor or online prescriptions, we can help you achieve a healthier and more fulfilling lifestyle here at Youssef Pain Management Inc. We are committed to providing you with our utmost care and attention regarding your spine health via online telehealth appointments. 

Become one of our happy and satisfied patients and live life to the fullest. If you would like to learn more or schedule an appointment, feel free to call 909-392-9480.