Lower back pain can be a mysterious, nagging issue for those of us who sit at a computer for long periods of time. I’ve dealt with it a lot over the years. Most of the time, it was caused by repetitive strain of my lower back muscles that were overextended. The question isn’t necessarily, “What’s wrong with my lower back?” But more accurately, “How is my poor computer posture causing this lower back pain?” There is a cause and effect for everything. In this case, lower back pain is the effect, not the cause.
Common causes of lower back pain often don’t originate in the lower back. Improper sitting posture can affect or trigger lower back pain. Maintaining a neutral spine is very important. When we lose the lumbar curve, it overextends the muscles, also putting a lot of pressure on the spinal cord. Having our monitor too low can also cause lower back pain. Holding internal shoulder rotation for long periods of time can also cause us to slouch forward, setting off a chain reaction of bad habits down to the lower back. Other common posture mistakes are incorrect desk height, chair height, and foot position.
Nothing on my website is medical advice. It’s for informational purposes only. It’s not my intention to replace the need for physical therapy. I simply share my experience, what has worked for me, and what hasn’t. I talk about the poor posture mistakes I’ve fixed and the good postural habits I’ve learned. Also, I talk about things I’ve learned in pain relief and pain management. It’s important to consult a professional healthcare provider if the pain persists or when it happens suddenly. Also, consult them for medical advice before performing any of the methods in this article.
5 Ways to Relieve Lower Back Pain
The best way for me to relieve chronic low back pain was to correct my poor posture. That was the first step toward pain relief. Chronic low back pain can affect a lot of people at one time. Most of them try pain management techniques like applying ice, heating pad, or bed rest. But those weren’t helping me. I even went to physical therapy 3 times a week for months. I finally realized that no treatment was going to relieve chronic low back pain unless I corrected my own bad habits first. Also, I had been practicing these bad posture habits long term, for 8 hours a day, 40 hours per week, 2000 hours per year. Lower back pain can be incredibly disruptive to our lives. It affects us not just physically, but mentally and emotionally as well.
Studies show that nearly 80% of Americans experience low back pain during their lifetime. This statistic was shown in the study: Hourigan CL, Bassett JM. Facet syndrome: clinical signs, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment. J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 1989 Aug;12(4):293-7. PMID: 2527939. This chronic low back pain can happen due to a variety of reasons. We’ll focus on how it can occur from poor computer posture.
There are plenty of ways to prevent lower back pain. Preventing it is different from actually relieving the pain as it happens. I’d like to mention a few ways to prevent chronic low back pain. All of these fall under the category of good computer posture.
The most important way to prevent back pain, in my opinion, is to maintain a neutral spine when sitting or standing at a computer. I did a YouTube video about the natural curves in the spine and incorrect ways to hold the spinal cord. That video can be found here on my YouTube channel.
The second most important variable of proper computer posture is to keep your eye level at the top of the monitor screen. If we are looking down at our monitor at an angle, it will cause a chain reaction of bad posture throughout our back. The natural curves in our neutral spine will disappear just from this one bad habit.
Next, avoid internal shoulder rotation for long periods of time. It might seem unlikely that a shoulder position can cause chronic low back pain. However, internal shoulder rotation sets off a chain reaction of bad habits that can definitely lead to lower back pain issues. I also did a video on internal shoulder rotation. It can be found here.
The next variable is to always keep our elbows slightly higher than desk level. If our elbows are below desk level, we have to contract our biceps long term in order to lift our hands on the keyboard and mouse. This will cause overuse in the bicep muscles, which can cause internal shoulder rotation, which can lead to chronic low back pain.
Last but not least, the final variable is to keep your feet flat on the floor or a footrest. A common sitting posture mistake is to contract our hamstrings long term so that we pull our feet under our bodies. When we do this, our feet aren’t flat on the floor. This can cause muscle confusion throughout the legs, as well as joint dysfunction in both the knees and ankles. I know about this computer posture mistake from experience. It created issues in my legs that led to me having 3 ankle surgeries.
Now that we’ve covered some ways of prevention, I’m dedicating the rest of this post on how to relieve lower back pain as quickly and safely as possible. They won’t be your typical pain relief home remedies like cold packs, over the counter pain relievers, or nonsteroidal anti inflammatory drugs nsaids. These are all physical activity methods I’ve used to ease painful symptoms. I usually write about my own personal experience as opposed to medically reviewed physical therapy studies.
Side note: I’m not compensated by any manufacturers mentioned in this article. None of this is paid promotion. I simply mention products that have improved my quality of life, that I paid my own money for.
Ways To Relieve Lower Back Pain
Back Magic for chronic low back pain relief
The Back Magic is an inexpensive lower back support made of plastic. I’ve used one on and off for years. I place it under my lower back when I am laying on the floor. It is shaped like a half circle. It puts just a slight amount of pressure on my lower back, which stretches out my tight, deactivated muscles. The Back Magic takes a different approach from foam rolling. Foam rolling is usually a heavy, repetitive muscle release. Instead, the Back Magic provides me with a light, consistent muscle release. It’s not very painful when I am using it. It actually feels relaxing.
Foam rolling to ease painful lower back muscles
In my opinion, using a Back Magic versus foam rolling isn’t really a comparison. They are both valuable to me. They both take different approaches to long term pain relief. I won’t get into the specifics of how to use a foam roller. We all have our own path to relieve chronic low back pain. But I do want to mention how much foam rolling has helped me when it comes to lower back pain management. Sometimes I will even use a foam roller right after using the Back Magic.
Forward fold stretch
Surprisingly, this stretch is a great way for me to relieve chronic low back pain. I simply stand up straight, then push my butt back while I also hinge at the hips. I let my arms and upper body hang towards the floor comfortably. The first muscles I feel stretch are my hamstrings. This is very important for me because sitting for many years tightened my hamstrings. The hamstrings are right next to the gluteus muscles. If the hamstrings are tight, so are the gluteus. If the gluteus are tight, the lower back is most likely affected as well. Everything in our bodies is connected. Muscles, tendons, ligaments, connective soft tissue, bones. Once I’ve started to feel that hamstring stretch, I can lean into it more and stretch other parts of my posterior chain. I like to get a slight lower back and calf stretch when I’m in this position.
Cold bath plunge
I recently started doing cold plunges early in the mornings. I’ve been doing them for about 3 months as of writing this article. I do it about 2 out of every 3 days. The morning before my ice bath, I take 3 storage containers and fill them up with water. They are about 6 quarts each. I put them in my freezer for 24 hours. The next day, these storage containers will have a huge block of ice in them. This eliminates the need to go to the store to get ice everyday, because my ice maker doesn’t produce nearly enough ice. These 3 ice blocks will get my water down into the low 60 degrees.
So I’m not doing anything crazy cold yet. But it’s cold enough to be uncomfortable. Once I graduate to more ice blocks, it’ll lower the temperature of my water about 2 degrees each. I fill up the bathtub with water before I go to bed and leave it overnight. This way I don’t have to wait for the tub to fill up in the morning. This eliminates another task I’d have to do in the morning when I’m usually more pressed for time.
Cold plunges have helped me in a number of ways. All of them are directly related to improve computer posture and to relieve chronic pain. They have helped me ease painful core muscles throughout my abdomen and lower back. Cold plunges increase my adrenaline, which generally makes me feel a lot better all around. They are rough and uncomfortable when I’m in the water, but I feel great after I get out, which makes it more than worth it. I stay in the water for 2 to 3 minutes. This is another reason why I like using water that isn’t super cold. The colder the water, the less time we can stay in. Just because the water I use isn’t as cold, doesn’t mean there aren’t similar benefits when I can stay in longer. These temperatures and times aren’t recommendations. They’re simply what works for me right now.
Chiropractic care
I go to a chiropractor once every 10 days, regardless if I need pain relief or not. It was tough to find a good one that takes a well-rounded approach to health. My chiropractor is great at soft tissue work, as well as aligning the spine. She’s helped a lot with my recovery from ankle surgeries. She adjusts my feet and ankles. She’s also done a lot of soft tissue work on my quads and hamstrings. These are just a few things she’s helped me with over the years. I couldn’t write this article without mentioning how much chiropractic care has helped me with pain management.
Thanks for your interest in sitting posture and pain relief. If you’ve read this far, congratulations! You’re taking valuable steps that will help relieve chronic low back pain. That’s something to be proud of.
If this article was helpful, check out my book titled “45 Ways to Improve Computer Posture.” It’s available in both digital and paperback versions.
>>> Click here to pick up your copy
This book explains how to improve your posture through different variables of health and wellness. These include sitting posture, standing posture, sleep, hydration, and breathing. Poor posture is not just how we sit at a computer. The health habits we practice, 24 hours a day, are directly related to how good (or bad) our computer posture is.
Go to SittingPosture.com/book to learn more.
Take care,
Todd Bowen
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