BACKS are made for moving.  Inactivity weakens the muscles around the spinal column, leaving it vulnerable.  It’s noteworthy that baggage handlers and removal men are little more prone to back trouble than computer operators.  Eight hours a day in one position is a recipe for trouble.  If you slump, it’s guaranteed. 

Hardly any surprise, then, that in computerised, sit-down Britain, backache is a major cause of days off work.  Around 50 million working days a year are lost through back pain, according to government figures. The annual cost to industry and families is put at £5billion.

However, medical management of low back pain is showing dividends.   The old idea of rest has been replaced by one of moderate activity. Numbers becoming long-term disabled are falling. 

My own experience is fairly typical. After various injuries over a couple of decades, I renounced cheap office chairs.   I bought a £1,000 chair second hand, but in good condition.  It is adjustable in every conceivable direction, and variable in strength and position of lumbar support. The effect has been remarkable.

Another plus factor was that my wife nagged me into attending yoga classes.  Why are classes overwhelmingly populated by women?  Probably fear. My experience entailed humiliating myself in front of 20 women executing perfect, semi-erotic poses. 

But it did a lot of good.  I am more flexible. On a tennis court, for instance, my 61-year-old frame feels much looser, “oiled.”   The ever-present curse of muscle-pulls and sprains has lost its bite.

The charity BackCare has sensible advice.  Its website details back-strengthening exercises. Here are 10 tips from the charity and other sources.

1. Sit straight. Difficult to do when you get involved in your work and the old habit of slumping takes over.
2. Get a desk chair with correct lumbar support.  Set a timer to go off every 15 minutes.  Is your spine in the right S shape or are you slumping C shaped?
3. Is your computer workstation correctly set up?  Many people have screens too low, so necks crane forward.  They may be as susceptible to injury at 0mph as in a high-speed motor accident. 
4. Similarly, a lectern for reading can be a low-tech god-send.
5. Get a bed with a sound base and firm mattress. A small towel makes a lumbar roll.
6. When you collect the mail off the front doormat, bend your legs.
7. Discard high heel shoes. They may be snazzy, but they strain joints and ligaments.  We weren’t designed to raise our heels by several inches.  As any podiatrist or osteopath will testify, high heels affect not just ankles, knees and hips.  Spines and necks are strained.
8. Swim. If you do breast stroke (not particularly good for knees) you should dip your head regularly as this helps take strain off the neck. Keeping the head above water causes you to arch the lower back so you could overstretch spinal ligaments and aggravate back pain.
9. After exercise, stretch.  Don’t pour a beer and slump in an armchair.
10. If you have a serious back injury, see a doctor. He or she may recommend a path between the old approach (total rest) and carrying on as normal.

www.backcare.org.uk

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