Many people experience back pain especially those who are working in the office, hospitals, schools, factories, stores, and any other institutions. But what is back pain? Back pain is a pain felt usually in the back but the most common pain in the back is the low back pain.

This kind of pain is usually felt in the middle of the low back called the lumbar area. This is where most of the body weight is concentrated especially when a person is sitting on a chair. Back pain usually happens if there is a history of back injury, falls, and improper body positioning especially when lifting heavy objects. Not only lifting but also prolonged sitting on a very uncomfortable chair can cause back pains. Maintaining proper body posture when sitting down and standing can also help prevent back pain.

They say that "An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure". This holds true when it comes to back pain. It would be wise to conserve our back and prevent injury rather than seeking help and consulting the doctor for treatment. It would be very costly and painful and takes a lot of ones time.

So how do we prevent back pain? Since the muscles in our back are thin, their main function is to keep the spinal column erect or keep the body straight and aligned so, they are not really meant for bending. So we should consider doing proper body mechanics. Not only when we are at work but also when we are doing our daily exercises. Proper body mechanics is the proper use of the body in order to avoid injury and pain.

Everyone should be aware that proper body mechanics is very important to avoid injury to ones back. When walking try to keep the body erect, maintain a straight posture, keeping the back aligned, hold the stomach in, and breast out.

When one is picking up an object always keep in mind to bend the knees and not the back. This way, you will be able to avoid bending your back and avoid straining the muscles there. When carrying heavy objects like grocery bags, it would be wise to hold them close to your body. By doing this, you will use the bigger muscles on your arms and thus conserve energy and avoid strain on your arms.

Avoiding bending the back by keeping is straight while doing any work or activity whether cleaning the house, doing some laundry, picking up the garbage, any day to day activities we should keep these in mind to bend the knees and not the back.

When doing exercises like the sit ups or abdominal crunch, bend your trunk at 45 degrees and no more. When you do this you are using mainly the muscles on your abdomen but if you go beyond 45 degrees of trunk bending then the muscles on your back will be strained. So always remember this when doing abdominal muscle exercises.