One of the most common questions patients ask me in December is how to prevent Winter back pain, and as a Bristol Osteopath, I have a few bits of timely advice for you.
As my patients know, I am all about prevention being better than cure, so why don’t we think about preventing Winter back pain, rather than having to deal with it after the event?
Now the weather’s turned colder and wetter, we often feel like hibernating - to hide away, stay inside and keep warm.
This is very normal and natural, but with this often comes inactivity, including muscle and joint de-conditioning, and all at a time of year when we might, potentially, be a little overindulgent.
The idea of balance in our lives becomes important during the festive period.
It is fun and important to relax, indulge a bit and enjoy the lovely things over Christmas but we need to re-balance that a little.
Often, rebalancing happens with a sudden jolt in the New Year.
As an experienced Bristol Osteopath who deals with patient niggles in January, maybe we should try and keep the activity going steadily through the whole Winter period instead.
The New Year is then less of a shock to the system.
How does this all relate to preventing Winter back pain in Bristol?
With seasonal inactivity, more time on the sofa, de-conditioning and overindulgence over the festive period there comes a corresponding increased risk of ‘doing your back in’.
Here are my thoughts on keeping healthy over the Winter, and especially during the festive season:
-Get outside daily for a walk, jog and/or a bit of sport
-Wrap up and stay warm whatever you are doing
-If outside is not for you then it’s a great time of year to hit the gym or find inside sport/activity
-Make sure you warm up and warm down and gently stretch
-Do some basic core work - most of us are familiar with the bridge and the plank. These can help keep that middle core section from getting too floppy!
-Hydrate well. Enjoy some warm drinks, but go steady on the caffeine and sugar. This is not about abstinence either so enjoy a drink (or two).
Most of the patients coming into my Henleaze osteopathic clinic probably could have avoided their back pain issues with a bit more prevention. The above tips apply.
I advise you to read these tips on how to avoid back pain in Winter.
If you're wondering how a Bristol Osteopath treats low back pain, read this.
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