Millions of people wake up each morning with excruciating back pain. They roll out of bed with muscle aches that limit their flexibility and impact their mobility throughout the day.

Back pain is the result of a number of factors, each of which are more or less harmful depending on the person. How we sit and how often we sit, the shoes we wear, the amount of exercise we get, the stress we carry, and the mattress we sleep on all affect the muscles in our back. Adjusting these factors can determine whether or not our muscles are going to ache in the mornings.

If you are already suffering from lower back pain, here are some helpful hints on:

Table of Contents

How to Relieve Lower Back Pain

Sit

If you have an office job, you might be sitting more than you’re not. Human bodies are not designed to sit for that long and it can have a negative impact on our skeletal structure and our internal systems. Take a look at the way you are sitting at your desk and see if there is anything you can do to improve your posture. This might include adding lumbar support to your chair or having an ergonomics expert come in and help with your computer set up.

Move

It’s important to add exercise to your routine throughout the day, which should include stretching, cardio and muscle building. Set a timer to go off once an hour and do 3 minutes of back pain-relieving stretches — it can be as simple as rolling your shoulders back and bending at the waist to touch your toes. On top of that, you can find little ways to increase your exercise intake: use the stairs, park further away, keep small weights by your desk. The stronger all of your muscles are, the better they can work together to support the weight of your body, alleviating the pressure on your back muscles.

Relax

We often store our stress in our shoulders and the muscles in our back, many people don’t even realize how tight their muscles are all day long. Body scan meditations are a great way to reduce stress, clear the mind and relax the body. Easily found online, these guided meditations can be done in five minutes and they simply encourage a person to focus on their bodies. This is a great routine to get into and can have a far-reaching impact on a person’s life.

Sleep

The way we sleep and on what has a massive impact on our lives so it’s important to invest in a quality mattress that provides the right kind of support for our bodies. Depending on your weight, height and personal preferences, a good mattress will allow our muscles to relax throughout the night while remaining supported so that our joints and muscles aren’t in pain when we wake up.

Prevention is always best, and if you can get ahead of the pain by adjusting your lifestyle, you might find that your life drastically improves.