6 Everyday Habits That Destroy Your Spine
shivani k 
Image: Shutterstock
Have you met anyone who has taken their spine for granted? We have all, at one point or the other, taken our spines for granted and we are guilty about it. Every day, we engage ourselves in various activities that are literally back-breaking. We pay no heed to our posture and put our spines through a whole lot of pain. From sipping that aerated drink to being a couch potato at any damn place we’re in, there are n number of practices or habits that aren’t good for our bodies. A majority of these comfortable-but-bad kind of habits can make us fat, tired and can also hurt our spine to an extent that it might damage our posture for the rest of our life.
Everybody shudders when they hear about others’ back pain stories, right? And somewhere amidst the busy working hours at the office and tiresome family gatherings, we too, have neglected the health of our spine. We could also blame the sedentary lifestyle that we are so much in love with. All the vices and misdemeanors that we engage in every day (like smoking, household habits etc) take a toll on our back—our spine’s wellbeing (1). Anything that strains the spine leads to chronic pains. And if there are any habits that are jeopardizing the spine health and subjecting it to back pain, then why not stop it? Because, if you haven’t got your own back, nobody else will. Here’s a list of everyday habits that you should turn your back to. Read on.
1. Smoking
Smoking has been considered as a cause for a large number of serious diseases. And back pain isn’t an exception. In fact, studies have proven that those who smoke are likely to be affected with chronic back pain when compared to the non-smokers (2). If you’re asking how, well, the nicotine present in cigarettes disrupts the normal flow of blood through the spine. Also, smoking reduces the calcium absorption in our bodies thereby preventing new growth of bones. It increases the risk of CBP (chronic back pain) (3).
2. Abrupt Change In Circadian Rhythms
If our body’s clock is messed up, it will also mess up our spinal structure. Studies say that the health conditions of cells present in the intervertebral disks are dependent on our day and night cycles (4).
If any change or disturbance in our circadian rhythm occurs, these cells begin to malfunction. And this directly leads to chronic inflammation resulting in CBP and degeneration of intervertebral disks. So, if you want a healthy spinal cord, make sure you sleep well and set aside a fixed time for your sleep. Don’t become a zombie.
3. When You Stand And Work
We only know how to blame the couch potatoes for sitting in a place all day long and spoiling their health. But did you know that standing for a long time is equally harmful too? The way we stand and the amount of time we stand affects the condition of not just our spine, but even impacts our neck and shoulder. One of the basic fundamentals is that our bones and muscles need flexibility in order to stay healthy. And standing in one static position will stress our body posture, leading to a severe lower back pain. This paves the path for serious curvatures (5), (6).
Therefore, always make it a habit to move about and learn to stand, sit, and lie in ways that will have no negative impact on our body’s joints and muscles. Make sure that you have your spinal cord intact in whatever posture you assume.
4. Our Beloved Mobile Phones
Our mobile phones weigh just a few 100 grams; but did you know that texting on our mobile phones can actually put up to 50 pounds of pressure on our spine? We aren’t trying to fool you or scare you here. There are studies that have proven this and also claim that texting every day for a long duration can actually affect the natural curve of our cervical spine (so, teenagers, beware!) (7)
And yes, we understand that we can’t do without technology these days, especially our mobile phones. The least we could do is to minimize the use and be mindful of our body’s positions while we are using our phones.
5. Don’t Avoid Movement
If you’re under the notion that prohibiting our body’s movements might prevent any instance of back pain, you’re wrong! Exercising is very important to maintain a healthy body posture and to keep our backbone strong. Our spine needs to be flexible too, therefore, start doing yoga or light exercises that don’t put much pressure on our backbones and instead, strengthen it (8).
6. An Unhappy Job
An unhappy job has much more to do with just affecting your mental health. It can also affect your spine. A study says that people with unhappy jobs suffer from back problems (9), (10). The reason is very psychological though, it’s got to do with a positive and a negative mindset.
Be it an unhappy job, or an unhealthy lifestyle, with age, our joints definitely get stiffer. So, why not cultivate habits that will help us maintain a healthy spine? We will at least have some amount of back strength to count on. These were some of the everyday habits that we came across that should be avoided to keep our spines healthy. Do you know of any other habits? Leave your answers in the comments below.
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