Traci Smet, ATC, PES, CSCS
[email protected]
cell: 920.979.5597
Low Back Pain Part I: Spine Mechanics
Low Back Pain Part I: Spine Mechanics
Low back pain is one of the most common injuries among all age groups. It is most prevalent between the ages of 30-50
years of age. Most Americans will experience low back pain sometime in their life. Women and men are affected
equally. Low back pain accounts for 3.15% of all emergency visits
Posture:
The spine is made up of
vertebrae, disks, and
ligaments that are
stacked in a specific way
to reduce compression
forces. Any change in
posture will increase
compression on the
spine. This includes not
only resting posture, but
also awkward
positioning while
performing tasks.
Malalignment of joints:
The “back bone” is connected to the “hip bone”, the “hip bone” is connected to
the “knee bone” and the “knee bone” is connected to the “foot bone”. If one of
these “bones” aka joints has instability it can cause malalignment and it will
affect your posture.
Tight hip flexors,
low back, and/or
quads can tilt your
pelvis forward
increasing the curve
of your low back!
First Class Lever System:
The spine is a first class lever system, where forces act on both sides
of a fulcrum (base of support). When you increase weight on one
side the other side needs to produce a force to counter act the
addition of this weight to keep it upright or level. This counter
balance system increases muscle fatigue and compression forces on
the fulcrum (spine).
Tight hamstrings,
glutes, and/or
abdominals can tilt
your pelvis backwards
decreasing the curve
of your low back!
Keep it close:
When you hold items away from the body,
the lever arm increases in length on one
side of the fulcrum, but remains the same
on the opposite side. For example: Two
children the same weight are sitting on a
teeter totter; one child is at the very edge
and the other closer to the fulcrum. The
child closer to the fulcrum will be in the air.
Being overweight places individuals at
very high risk for back injury!
Use a power squat:
When you bend your spine lift from the floor instead of the hips and
knees you are changing the curves of the spine, which increases
compression forces on the spine by making the back produce greater
forces to balance out the lever arm system at an unfair advantage. This
would be like a little kid trying to get onto the teeter totter while the
heavy kid is already seated.
Risk of a back injury depends on the following:
Duration of exposure (How long?)
Frequency of exposure (How often?)
Intensity of exposure (How heavy?)
Combination of risk factors increases the risk even more!
Prevention is KEY!
• Maintain your curves
• Don’t twist while lifting
• Maintain a healthy weight
• Wear comfortable supportive shoes
• Don’t lift objects too heavy for you.
• Keep object close to the body
• Exercise/stretch
• Quit smoking : Smoking ↓ blood supply to the low back and ↑ the rate of disk deteriora!on
Good Lifting Mechanics!
WRONG
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WRONG
Waterman BR1, Belmont PJ Jr, Schoenfeld AJ.Spine J.; Low back pain in the United States: incidence and risk factors for presentation in the emergency
setting. 2012 Jan;12(1):63-70. doi: 10.1016/j.spinee.2011.09.002. Epub 2011 Oct 5.
White AA, Panjabi MM; Clinical Biomechanics of the Spine, Second Edition, Lippincott, 1990.
Cailliet R; Low Back Pain Syndrome, 4th edition, F A Davis Company, 1981
http://www.chiropractorfreehold.com/chiropractor-in-freehold-nj-shares-a-key-component-missed-by-many-doctors-in-treating-low-back-pain/
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/back-pain/basics/prevention/con-20020797