Occupational Therapist Reveals 3 Easy Changes to Your Routine to Reduce Daily Back Pain

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With up to 60% of the UK population experiencing back pain at some point in their lives, back pain is widely regarded as the most common disability in the UK.

To help those who experience back pain improve their quality of life, Julie Jennings, independent occupational therapist for HSL, has revealed three ways that people can alter their daily routines to reduce the way back pain affects their daily lives.

1. Address your posture

Julie shares: “One of the biggest causes of back pain for many people is a consistent poor posture. Many of us revert to what is often called our ‘comfort posture’, the position we feel is the most comfortable for us to sit in or move around in. However, this posture is often an underlying cause of chronic back pain.

“Your chair may also be forcing you to sit in a posture which is bad for your back. For this reason, take time to see whether your chair is the right fit for you. This is relevant for all furniture that you sit in, whether it’s your comfortable armchair at home or your office desk chair. If your chair is badly fitting, consider investing in a new riser recliner to properly support your back and encourage good posture.

“When standing or walking, try to be conscious of your posture. Are you slumping forward into a stooped position, or are you holding your head and shoulders back instead? By consciously correcting yourself on a daily basis, you will gradually encourage your posture to improve.”

2. Keep your body moving with the 3:3 method

Julie explains: “When you’re dealing with back pain, you might think that limiting movement can help to improve the situation, but this often isn’t the case.

“Whilst it’s true that you should avoid strenuous exercise that is likely to aggravate your pain further, restricting movement throughout the day can cause your muscles to stiffen, leading to the possibility of the pain worsening, or at least not improving.

“Instead, try to keep your body moving throughout the day. Getting up and walking around is a great first step; you can also introduce a simple 3:3 method to your daily routine. This involves doing three seated stretches in three minutes, which will help to prevent your muscles from stiffening without having to leave your chair.

“Simply take three seated stretches, hold each one in turn for 15 seconds, before resting for 15 seconds. Then repeat the cycle again twice more. Do this multiple times throughout the day to ensure your muscles remain flexible and to prevent stiffening.”

Julie’s recommended stretches:

Torso twists

Aiding spine mobility, this armchair workout can help improve blood circulation while engaging your core muscles.

Step 1: Sit upright in your chair and don’t lean back. Keep your eyes upward and straight ahead.
Step 2: Cross your hands across your chest with bent elbows.
Step 3: Exhale and then gently twist your torso to one side. Engage your core and always keep your back straight.
Step 4: Inhale, slowly return to the centre, and then repeat on the opposite side. Aim for six twists on both sides.

Chest stretches

This first chair exercise is a great one to help relieve any aches or tension in your upper body, which in turn, will help improve your overall posture.

Step 1: Sit upright, away from the back of the chair, with a straight back. Roll your shoulders in circular motions to release tension.
Step 2: Extend your arms out to the sides in a ‘T’ shape, then gently push your chest forward to feel a stretch.
Step 3: Hold for 15 seconds and repeat five times.

Seated backbend

If you have been experiencing tightness in your lower back, neck or chest, adding this stretch into your seated workouts can help relieve it.

Step 1: Sit at the edge of the chair, suck in to secure your core, and keep your back upright to straighten the spine. Have both feet flat on the floor and keep your hips square.
Step 2: Place both hands on the hips. Then, slowly arch the back inward and push the stomach outward, leaning backwards using only your upper body.
Step 3: Keep this position until you start to feel a comfortable stretch (around 10–20 seconds). Release and return to your starting position.

3. Identify potential causes

Julie comments: “Whilst there are simple ways you can relieve your back pain, understanding the reasons why you are suffering from it is an important step towards improving your quality of life. In many cases, small, simple changes can help reduce the pain you experience on a daily basis.

“You may have poorly sized furniture that is causing you discomfort, or have a physical job that is causing pain, or it might be caused by a hobby or activity. Even something as simple as gardening can cause back pain due to poor posture and the time you spend bending over.

“To resolve these issues, question whether you are prepared for the activity in the first place; have you ‘warmed up your muscles’ beforehand. Doing the stretches above could help with this before you start and after you have finished the task. Can you make changes to your routine to prevent further aggravation? Can you improve your gardening posture? Take up a less strenuous activity? Scale back in some of the more physical areas of your job? Tackling these underlying problems can help reduce the pain you experience and improve quality of life.”