Causes of back pain: Are you a commuter who travels daily? Have you noticed any problem with your body because of it? If you are a student, an employee, or just a regular passenger who commutes every day to your destination, you need to know that commuting is one of the causes of back pain.

Why Does Commuting Cause Back Pain?

When you’re on the road, stressing about the long traffic, you don’t realise that there’s something worse than just being late for an appointment. Your health is also at stake.

Sudden engine brake during rush hours makes a bumper-to-bumper scenario causes stress to your spinal column that may result to severe back pain.

Effects of Commuting that Causes Back Pain

An average worker commutes 200 hours a year to and from work, within the city. Those who live out of town endure longer commuting hours, which will really take its toll on the body. Furthermore, the British Chiropractic Association reported that one out of ten commuters do not sit down during the commute. You may not have experienced it yet, but the side effect can go long term if ignored. Commuting also causes fatigue, worry, and illnesses that will eventually worsen based on the time spent in commuting.

According to the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being survey conducted in 2010, health problems and causes of back pain increase along with commuting time. In this survey, 27% of people who suffered from back pain were also diagnosed with high cholesterol  for commuting 90 – 120 minutes, and 30% of them were obese. While traffic drains you mentally, it attacks your health physically, even if you do not always make the connection.

Back problems need to be addressed as soon as possible as chronic back pain may lead to something more serious. Other causes of back pain is age. The spine becomes more vulnerable over time and suffers wear and tear. This may result in degenerative disc diseases. This usually occurs when people reach their 40’s and cumulative causes of back pain can hasten its development. People who usually do heavy, physical work are prone to degenerative disc diseases.

Unexpected Causes of Back Pain

Back pain occurs due to some unexpected causes that most people neglect to notice. One of these is wearing the “wrong shoes.” Girls love high heels because it adds glamour to their outfit. But, what they don’t recognise is that it alters the body’s center of gravity. Wearing high heels triggers lumbar spine flattening and a posterior displacement of the head and thoracic spine. The calf muscle and the Achilles tendon are also affected as they may shorten and tighten because of abnormal contraction and adjustments to the angle of the heels. These areas of the body become tense in order to maintain balance. Wearing trainers or comfortable shoes while commuting will certainly help prevent and even reduce one of the causes of back pain.

Another surprising cause of back pain is using your Smartphone or tablet. The head-down position when hovering over your Smartphones and other gadgets strains the muscles in the neck and extends down to your spine all the way to your lower back. Sitting for a long period of time also stresses the spine as it adds more pressure on the disks and vertebrae than walking or standing.

How to Relieve and Prevent Causes of Back Pain

Since commuting is an unavoidable part of the daily grind, the best solution to prevent the causes of back pain may require focusing on getting into the right habits.

Frequent intake of painkillers is not a long-term solution as it will only treat the symptoms but not the cause. This may also create more serious health problems, adding to the existing back pain issue, such as liver damage, heart disease, addictions.

There are some simple alternative treatments to relieve back pain that can offer a long-term solution without the side effect of the drugs.

Also, be aware and correct the following potential causes of back pain (everything adds up):

1. When using a laptop or other gadgets, try to look straight ahead or buy a stand to avoid looking down.
2. Avoid wearing high heels, especially when it’s not necessary. Stretch your leg muscles before and after using them.
3. Exercise regularly and strengthen your back.
4. If possible, shorten your commute by walking a bit more and work from home from time to time. 20 minutes less lowers your risk of neck and back pain by 14%, reduce your risk of obesity by 20%, and reduce your risk of having a heart attack by 30%.
5. When riding in a car, plane, or bus, lean your seat backwards to support your spine from carrying too much body weight.
6. If you drive for long hours, support the neck with a proper neck rest.
7. Stretch and exercise regularly especially after commuting.
8. If you must stand during a commute, assume the correct posture as best as you can. Keep the back straight and distribute your weight on both feet. Hold on to the rails so you do not keep losing your balance.
9. Make sure that your buttocks are rested on the seat if you get to sit down. Do not make your back stiff and keep it straight. Bring a small pillow that you can put on your seat to support your lower back. This will minimise pain in the lower back.

Get very useful exercises and solutions to address the causes of back pain.