Back Wrecker #3: Absentmindedness During Daily Activity

Numbered print by Alison Adams, 1958

 I told my husband that the back pain websites don't mention bending over to pick up your shoe, but here it was #3--absentmindedness.  I know from experience not to sit on anything and bend over to pick something up from the floor, whether in the car or house. Zap, zing, pow, snap. I blame it all on my horse sitting on me when I was 11 years old.  So although it wasn't absolutely awful yesterday, today I'm practically crippled, and will call off my volunteer stint at the pregnancy clinic.  I'm trussed up in one of my two back braces and wore it all night.

Train yourself: A simple way to do that is to pull your navel toward your spine and imagine you're wearing a corset that pulls the sides of your abs inward. Doing that throughout the day -- and especially when lifting or bending -- strengthens and supports your back, says Esther Gokhale, author of 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back and owner of Esther Gokhale Wellness Center in Palo Alto, Calif.

Today, I look like a slob because I need something loose--the $2 pants I bought a few weeks ago--and I'm wearing slip on sandals even though it's awfully cold (for May--not bad if it were February).  But, probably I won't be leaving the house.

http://www.webmd.com/back-pain/features/how-to-wreck-your-back