1. Work on having good posture. Don’t slouch when standing or sitting down. Keep your back straight. Sitting with a curved spine puts pressure on your shoulders and other parts of your back.

Bad Posture Results in Back Pain

2. If you sit at a desk, make sure the surface is a comfortable height. If the desk is too low or too high you will have to strain, causing more back pain.

3. Sit in a chair that provides good back support. Your back should be touching the back of the chair. Place a pillow behind the small of your back if you need extra support.

4. When you sit, put your feet on a stool or stack of books to take the pressure off of your back. If you stand for a prolonged amount of time, put one foot on a short stack of books or block to relieve pressure and change feet every few minutes.

5. Wear supportive shoes. High heels and uncomfortable shoes will cause your weight to be distributed unevenly and create more back problems.

6. Don’t lift objects that are too heavy. If you do lift heavy objects, find someone to assist. Keep your legs slightly bent at the knees and lift with your legs, not your back. Keep the object close to your body and keep your back straight.

7. Use ice after a back injury to reduce inflammation. Use heat after swelling has been reduced.

8. Get aerobic exercise. Aerobic exercise provides circulation to your muscles and can reduce muscle tightness. If back pain is due to an injury, consult your doctor before doing any strenous exercise.

9. Stretch every day. The best time to stretch is after aerobic exercise when the muscles are warm and more flexible. Be careful of stretching beyond what you are capable of to prevent further injury. Stretch all areas of your body, as muscle tightness in your back can be a result of muscle tightness in your hips, legs, or arms. Click here to see a video of back stretches.

Back Stretch

10. Do back strengthening exercises. A physical therapist can assist with back strengthening exercises and develop a plan unique to your own back needs. Click here for back strengthening exercises.

11. Find out if you are magnesium deficient. Magnesium helps to maintain normal muscle and nerve function. A German study found that 76 out of 82 people with chronic low back pain had a reduction in pain symptoms by taking a magnesium supplement.

12. Check the firmness of your mattress. A study in Spain looked at low back pain among 313 adults. Participants had either a firm mattress or a medium firm mattress (a soft mattress was not used), and participants were not informed as to which mattress they had. The study looked at pain throughout the day and on every measure the participants who had the medium firm mattress had less pain. If you tend to sleep on your side, a soft mattress is better because there is more give for your shoulder. A firm mattress that doesn’t allow give will cause extra tightness in the shoulders.

13. Get a massage. A massage will reduce stress and loosen up tight muscles. If you have chronic back pain regular massage or chiropractic attention may be needed.

14. Lay flat, putting a tennis ball under the part of your back that hurts. The tennis ball will relieve the tightness of the muscle that is hurting when pressure is put on that area. Lay for as along as is comfortable and use the tennis ball to relieve tension in different parts of your back. You can also try this standing up against a wall.

15. The Back Magic Device helps strengthen and stretch lower back muscles. I bought this device and use it frequently. It has 3 levels and when you lay over it your back feels a slight stretch. I found this to be tremendously helpful.