8 Tips to Keep Your Spine Healthy and Strong
The spinal column is a structure that we should learn to look after each day to maintain a good level of health and overall wellbeing. Initially, this may sound like you need to follow special sophisticated measures, but that’s not true! In order to have a healthy and strong sine, you just need to adopt a few good lifestyle habits.
We never seem to worry about the spine. Similar to our feet, this body part is tasked with keeping our body upright, but we often forget about it. For that reason, below we share 8 tips to help you look after it.
The spinal column
The spine is a complex structure that’s responsible for supporting your body. Made up of vertebrae and discs, and runs through the neck and back, ending at your pelvis.
The spinal cord passes through it. This regulates the nervous system and movement.
Because we constantly use it, it can suffer injuries, both to the bone and the muscles. These can cause intense pains and affect someone’s quality of life. However, adopting a few good lifestyle habits can help you care for your spinal column and avoid suffering.
8 tips to keep your spine healthy and strong
Doing exercise each day is one of our main recommendations when it comes to maintaining wellbeing. But, it’s also helpful when it comes to looking after more complex and essential structures like the spinal column. Now, let’s take a look at some of the recommended lifestyle habits:
Exercise regularly
Exercising regularly is one of the best ways to strengthen the spine and take care of its health. Not only will you maintain a stable weight, but you’ll also reduce stiffness and muscle and joint tension.
You can combine cardiovascular workouts with strength exercises to enjoy more benefits. And, if you’re unsure, you can always consult a physiotherapist.
Improve your body posture for a healthy and strong spine
Good body posture, both when walking and when resting, plays an important part in preventing the development of spinal diseases or injuries. This is because it facilitates weight distribution and therefore keeps the vertebrae and discs in their correct position.
Trauma, tension, and pains that you may experience in this area of the body often have a lot to do with poor posture.
Maintain a healthy weight
Being overweight or obese are two very dangerous conditions for muscle and joint health. This is because they involve more physical exertion, tension, and pain.
Fat accumulation, especially in the abdominal area, increases the likelihood of spinal injury or stiffness in the back muscles. Specialists also link being overweight or obese with problems such as disc herniation and premature wear of the cartilage that protects the bone system.
Discover more: Food Supplements for Joint Problems
Have a healthy diet
Eating healthy food plays a very important role in maintaining the health of the spine and all of the body systems. We recommend you increase your intake of calcium and vitamin D; two key nutrients that help in bone formation and remodeling.
Avoid cigarettes
The toxins that cigarettes contain are related to the development of a wide variety of diseases that affect a person’s quality of life. Nicotine, tar, ammonia, butane, and methane are only some of the substances we can find in this product. They travel through the bloodstream and deposit themselves in the tissues.
Specialists link the accumulation of these substances in the body to the risk of suffering from cancer, respiratory diseases, and bone and muscular problems.
Strengthen your abdominal muscles
Strengthening your abdominal and lower back muscles provides many health benefits to the spinal column. The abdominals help support the body and reduce the burden of the weight on the back.
Take breaks and stretch for a healthy and strong spine
Those who have to work several hours in front of a computer screen, that generally stay in the same posture for hours on end, should take breaks every so often. This kind of activity can cause tension and stress to the spinal column.
If you have an office job, try to take just 10 minutes each hour to stretch your muscles and stimulate blood flow.
Read this article: The 9 Best Stretches to Stay In Shape
Learn to manage stress
People who are continuously subjected to stressful situations often feel more pain in their back, neck, and shoulders.
These emotional imbalances can interfere with the activity of the nervous system and can lead to cramps.
Take a look at learning relaxation techniques to manage stress and avoid back pain (or other pains) becoming a chronic problem.
In order to have a healthy and strong spine, you just have to adopt a few good lifestyle habits. However, if you suffer recurring pain, it’s best to visit a doctor or physiotherapist.
All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.
Chiu, T. T. W., Lam, T.-H., & Hedley, A. J. (2004). A Randomized Controlled Trial on the Efficacy of Exercise for Patients With Chronic Neck Pain. SPINE. http://doi.org/00007632-200501010-00027 [pii]
Glassman, S. D., Anagnost, S. C., Parker, A., Burke, D., Johnson, J. R., & Dimar, J. R. (2000). The effect of cigarette smoking and smoking cessation on spinal fusion. In Spine. http://doi.org/10.1097/00007632-200010150-00011
Sands, W. A., McNeal, J. R., Penitente, G., Murray, S. R., Nassar, L., Jemni, M., … Stone, M. H. (2016). Stretching the Spines of Gymnasts: A Review. Sports Medicine. http://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-015-0424-6
