Exercise can help prevent back pain

EXercising the entire body stimulates blood supply and relaxes painful muscle spasms, according to a study. File Photo: Rajeev Bhatt
Moderate endurance exercise can help prevent back problems. Exercising the entire body stimulates blood supply and relaxes painful muscle spasms, according to Dieter Breithecker from Germany’s Federal Institute on the Development of Posture and Exercise. Exercise also makes the body more resilient.

Breithecker recommends sports such as swimming, walking, hiking, cycling or cross-country skiing. Sports that cause repetitive buckling of the spine, on the other hand, should be avoided. Those sports include horse riding, downhill skiing and fast jogging. You should also be careful when engaging in sports that involve fast, repetitive over-extension of the spine such as tennis, badminton, squash and golf.

Breithecker advises consulting with your doctor first to make sure your back is healthy enough to engage in sport. After that it is a matter of finding out whether a certain type of exercise suits you.