World Spine Day 2020: Several precautions can help you prevent spine-relates issues for lifetime. Exercise and a healthy diet are beneficial to your bones. Read here to know some of these that might help.
![World Spine Day 2020: Keep Your Spine Healthy With These Tips World Spine Day 2020: Keep Your Spine Healthy With These Tips](https://c.ndtvimg.com/2020-06/6e86f03_back-pain-650_625x300_24_June_20.jpg?q=50)
World Spine Day 2020: Avoid sitting for too long to avoid back pain
HIGHLIGHTS
- Maintain good posture to avoid back pain
- Regular exercise can help you keep your spine health
- Add enough calcium and vitamin D to your diet for healthy spine
World Spine Day is observed on October 16 each year to create awareness on spinal pain and disability around the world and to exhort people to adopt healthy routines to make their spine strong, active and flexible. Back and neck problems are quite common. Due to the ongoing pandemic, many are working from home without any kind of physical activity. This has increased the incidents of back, neck and shoulder pain. Hence, lack of physical activeness is not only contributing to laziness but it is also going to end up harming your spine!
This year's theme has been aptly kept as 'Back on Track', which encourages people to reactivate and revitalise their bodies and watch out for problems that may come up if one is not taking care of one's spine and back. Being in office meant we could move about a little, be it a visit to the cafeteria or a colleague's desk. Appropriate chairs and equipment gave comfort to our posture, but all that may not be possible while working from home.
Typically, poor ergonomics, a sedentary lifestyle, bad sitting postures and staying physically inactive are common reasons for spinal and back. Also, while at home, working on laptops while lying down without much activity can also cause spinal problems as there is lot of pressure on the back muscles and spinal discs. Slouched positions can stretch spinal ligaments and strain the spinal discs can cause severe pain and other severe complications if untreated.
World Spine Day 2020: How to keep spine health for lifetime
1. Pay attention to 'early' warning signs:
Spine is a weight bearing structure subjected inevitably to wear and tear each day and it is natural to develop degenerative changes as you age. However, if any spinal condition can be diagnosed early, appropriate preventive and corrective measures can be instituted to prevent the condition from worsening and eventually necessitating a major surgical procedure. Persistent or recurring back/ neck pain, radiating pain in the limbs, numbness or weakness in the extremities, difficulty in walking long distances or imbalance while walking should not be neglected and be evaluated at the earliest.
Also read: Exercises To Relieve Bank Pain
![8gn21eo](https://c.ndtvimg.com/2020-10/8gn21eo_back-pain_625x300_16_October_20.jpg)
World Spine Day: Do not ignore back pain for too long, seek medical help if required
Photo Credit: iStock
2. Measures to maintain a healthy spine in the long run
Given all these considerations, there are some immediate as well as long-term measures that one should take in ensuring a healthy spine:
Avoid jerks and extremes of bending and twisting
Maintain a healthy posture while sitting
Share work and take breaks often, do not sit for too long
Try to move more throughout the day and exercise daily
Maintain a nutritious diet rich in proteins as well as fresh fruits and vegetables
Maintain a healthy weight to reduce stress on the bones
Get good exposure to sunlight to get good vitamin D or add supplements to diet of required
Back pain is a common condition these days but it should not be ignore for too long. You should make several lifestyle modifications to prevent and fight back pain effectively.
(Dr. Umesh Srikantha, Consultant - Neurosurgery, Head of Spine Services, Aster CMI Hospital)
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. NDTV is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, suitability, or validity of any information on this article. All information is provided on an as-is basis. The information, facts or opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of NDTV and NDTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.
DoctorNDTV is the one stop site for all your health needs providing the most credible health information, health news and tips with expert advice on healthy living, diet plans, informative videos etc. You can get the most relevant and accurate info you need about health problems like diabetes, cancer, pregnancy, HIV and AIDS, weight loss and many other lifestyle diseases. We have a panel of over 350 experts who help us develop content by giving their valuable inputs and bringing to us the latest in the world of healthcare.