Avoiding Back Pain
For trouble-free service, stretch, exercise and watch your posture.
Synopsis: A carpenter turned psychologist explains how to take better care of your back by stretching, getting the right kind of exercise, and being mindful of your posture. Photos illustrate several exercises suitable for a morning warm-up on the job site.
When my carpenter’s back started hurting 13 years ago, I embarked on a frustrating odyssey through mainstream and alternative health-care systems, searching for that single treatment that would “fix” it. I got X-rayed, rolfed, accupunctured, heated, iced, cracked, polarized and therapized. When I failed to find a fix, I opted for a career change. I am now a psychologist, and I often work on a medical team that treats people who suffer from chronic back pain.
Considered the kiss of death among builders, back pain can be financially and psychologically expensive. Financially, a back injury can cause huge medical costs, lost billable time and construction delays. Psychologically, the costs of back pain can range from anxiety about one’s fitness for work to depression and marital problems. A large percentage of builders’ disabilities can be attributed to back pain, much of which could have been prevented through education and training.
With the exception of sudden accidents like falling, most back injuries result from prolonged, faulty body mechanics at work coupled with poor back hygiene at home. Back injuries often start without warning. Using poor body mechanics can painlessly overstretch ligaments, overcompress disks or create muscle imbalances that are a setup for pain later on.
Now that I’m working in the medical community, I’ve finally learned the methods I needed to know as a builder to keep my back in good shape. I still enjoy carpentry, and I’ve come up with some simple routines to minimize the strain on my back. I’m now 42 and no longer work-hardened. But by practicing these methods I can do heavy work with much less pain than I had in my 20s. Human nature being what it is, folks who have never had any back pain may not see the merit in the advice presented here. But if you want to stay pain-free, these routines can help you get through a day’s work with your mind occupied by the job — not by your aching back.
Parts is parts
The first step toward a pain-free back is to start treating your back like your most valuable tool. Like a tool, the spine is made up of moving parts, and as an orthopedist once warned me, “parts wear out.” So how do you make it through a long career without wearing out these precious, nonreplaceable parts? By understanding how the back works and minimizing wear and tear on it every chance you get.
For more photos and details, click the View PDF button below: