Lack of proper physical activity and a sedate lifestyle will result in lot of physical problems. The most prominent of such physical issues is Chronic back pain. In a recent survey conducted across North America estimated that more than 100 million Americans suffer with some or the other form of chronic back pain. Chronic back pain can now safely be classified as one of the biggest epidemics.
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We need to understand our body well to find out the reason for this issue. Man is the only mammal with a completely erect spine. This evolution made our legs stronger, but the spine did not evolve a great deal as the natural alignment of the body, while standing or sitting (read as sitting on the floor) did not apply a great deal of strain to the spine.

With changing times and a career focused life, people sit for long periods during the day. Right from the dawn, people spend time either sitting in their car, office cabin or watching a TV at home. This continuous abuse of the back leads to many ill effects. The major issue is the development of a chronic back pain, along with poor mood, in ability to lift weights, inability to walk long distances, poor flexibility and so on.

What makes the matters worse is obesity. This lifestyle also results in obesity, which in return will increase the back pain as the load on the back increases. We are doing no good to our backs even when we sleep as most people sleep on cushiony beds, resulting in worsening of this condition. Another reason is stress. Stress results in muscular contraction, and less blood flow throughout the body. It is scientifically proven, that stress is one of main reasons for back pain.

The easy fix is to avoid all these things, but that is not practical. A software engineer’s job is to sit in front of his PC for hours, we cannot change that. What we can change is the way we approach our tasks every day and to do physical exercises and yoga.

1) Even while sitting for long hours, a correct posture can greatly help in decreasing the pain. The tail bone (or the sit bone) should protrude out; we should not sit with a hunch back.

2) By practicing the yoga asanas (Bhujangasana, Sarvangasana and matsyasana combo can be boon for people with chronic back ache). It not only alleviates the pain, but also cures the problem of chronic back ache over a period of three months.

3) In olden times, people bent their back a lot to do daily activities, like washing and cleaning of dishes. [ad#wlk-234]Today the machine does the washing and a dish washer does the cleaning, even those who manually clean the dishes stand erect and wash them. It is important to do activities which involve your back actively, gardening can be a great hobby as well as something which can keep you fit (don’t use shovels with a long handle).

4) Try sitting on the floor with the legs folded and your spine erect for at least 30 minutes (avoid chairs and sofas as much as possible )

5) Don’t sleep on cushions; try sleeping on just the bed spread over the floor.

6) If you are supposed to work for long hours sitting in a chair in front of the PC, then take a one minute break after every hour, and walk a bit drink some water, and focus your eye sight on a distant object. This has multiple benefits, as doing this in addition to keeping your back healthy, also prevents your eye sight from deteriorating and keep your hydrated.

7) Obesity is a major cause, so keep your obesity at check. Weight loss can result in remarkable decrease in back ache.

8. Find the best way to avoid stress. Make sure you have ample sleep and try doing things that you like a lot. Yoga and pranayama can help a great deal in removing stress.

9) Acid Reflux and GERD coupled with ulcer might also result in back ache (middle zone) . Learn to cure Acid Reflux completely