Tips to Minimize Pain in Lower Back from Driving
|A study found that up to 50 percent of business drivers had suffered from pain in lower back. Here are several tips to minimize lower back pain while driving for long periods of time.
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Q: In my early 20s, I suffered from a bad lower back, but with exercise managed to keep it under control. Recently, I took a job that requires a lot of driving - at least four hours per day. Now aged 35, I find myself suffering from it again. I can only think that my sports car is the aggravating factor. Do you have any advice? Jane Farmery, Sussex
A: Given your hunch that it could be your driving that’s causing your back pain, let’s consider what long hours spent in a car seat may do to the body.
A recent study found that up to 50 per cent of business drivers had suffered lower back pain in the last 12 months. Before talking about optimal seating positions, it should be noted that any one position maintained for hours on end isn’t going to be good for you.
The Highway Code advises us to have a 15-minute break every two hours, which could mean simply walking around and mobilising the muscles that have been held static, thereby encouraging blood flow to boost tissue health.
Having a decent sitting posture in the car is of primary importance. Drivers can locate this by putting the seat in a neutral position - ie, with the back at approximately 30 degrees from the vertical, and with the wheel adjusted as high and far forward as it goes.
From this point, you can then introduce the variables: pump up the seat’s height to give you a better view, move it forward so that depressing the pedals fully is easy, and draw the wheel towards you so there is no forward strain in the shoulders.
Once these factors are set, introduce a support for your lower back. These days, many car seats have an adjustable lumbar setting; make sure it fits well into your back, with no pressure points or gaps. Then angle the neck rest so that it gives comfortable support, while allowing you a good view of the dash.
You mentioned that you drive a sports car. Now I’m taking a guess that, as a result, you may have bucket seats, which are designed to fit into a smaller space and keep the driver in place when making sharp turns. However, their sturdiness can sometimes cause lower-back problems, especially in those with a weaker spine.
The deep incline of the bucket seat can force the driver to extend their knees and straighten their legs in order to operate the pedals. This results in a pull through the hamstrings which, in turn, rolls the lumbar spine into flexion and puts increased pressure through the intervertebral discs. It is possible that this increased strain within the discs and the surrounding tissues has triggered your symptoms.
While this is all hypothetical, your sitting posture and the type of vehicle are nonetheless cause for concern. Get your back diagnosed properly, and consider that if you are going to spend hours driving for the foreseeable future, an alternative car may well be advisable, too.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/main.jhtml?xml=/health/2008/09/08/hjoint108.xml
