Disability is caused by back pain. The majority of people experience back pain at some point in their lives. It becomes more common in adulthood.
It can become disabling and distressing for 25 percent of people who suffer from back pain.
It can affect a person's ability to engage in physical activity. Back pain is often caused by activities such as sitting, standing, bending, and lifting.
Good posture is important to protect the spine from damage, as well as preventing and treating back pain.
Good posture is defined as sitting upright, standing upright, and lifting with a squat technique and straight back.
Conversely, sitting, standing, and lifting with a round back or stooped posture are not recommended.
People with and without back pain and clinicians in both occupational health and primary care settings hold this view.
There is no evidence for a strong correlation between good posture and back pain.
Social desirability and unwarranted presumptions lead to the perception of good posture.
Recommendations for manual workers on the best posture for lifting have not been found to reduce work related back pain.
There is a relationship between spine posture and back pain.
In a large population of adolescents, we found that sitting or standing in non-neutral postures were associated with future back pain.
There wasn't much support for this view.
There are no differences in sitting or standing posture between people with and without back pain, according to these findings.
No single posture can protect a person from back pain. Back pain can be experienced by people who are both slumped and upright.
There is no evidence to support the use of good or safe back postures.
Lifting with a round-back posture isn't associated with back pain.
A recent lab study shows that people without back pain are more likely to lift with a stooped, round back posture.
Manual workers with back pain were more likely to use a squat lift with a straighter back.
People who don't lift in a good way don't have more back pain than people who lift in a good way.
As people with disabling back pain recovered, they became less protective and less interested in good posture advice.
There isn't any evidence for a single good posture. People's spine are all different shapes and sizes.
Learning to vary and adopt different postures that are comfortable is likely to be more helpful than adhering to a particular "good" posture.
Most people with back pain don't have tissue damage or pathology and it's not related to the pain.
Back pain can be caused by awkward, sudden, heavy, or unaccustomed loads on our back but can also be caused by a bad headaches.
People are more at risk of back pain when their health is not good.
If a person has back pain, it's more likely to continue.
In a small group, back pain can be caused by a variety of things, including a broken bone, a malignancy, an infection, or nerve compression. Seek medical care if you find yourself in these situations.
Most people think back pain is related to sensitization of the back structures, but not tissue damage.
Keeping good posture can distract from other factors that are important for spine health.
These are included.
Sometimes support and coaching is required.
If you are sitting or standing, you can change your postures.
It's possible to lift naturally with a round back. Make sure you are fit and strong enough to do the job.
Peter O' Sullivan is the Professor of Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy at the university.
Under a Creative Commons license, this article is re-posted. The original article is worth a read.
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