Athletico Health Resources

There has been a lot of media attention the past few years equating sitting to being as bad for your health as smoking. The public concern has resulted in what you might expect: office workers switching to stand-up desks, sales of exercise balls, fitness tracker purchases, and even people utilizing treadmills while they’re working on a computer. But is all this worry over sitting warranted? Let’s take a look.

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At some point in our lives, most of us will experience back pain¹ in some form. Back pain is complicated because there are numerous factors that can contribute to the start of it. Factors such as type of injury, age, activity level, medical history, and even socioeconomic status can have an effect on the cause and severity of your back pain. It can have an enormous impact on your personal life, family life, job performance and ability to participate in recreational activity. There can also be extreme financial implications² that come with back pain, including time off work due to injury, doctor’s appointments, imaging such as MRIs or CT scans, and prescription medication costs.

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It’s back-to-school season. Parents and kids will be shopping for school supplies and one item on many lists will be a new backpack. Before heading back to school, parents and kids should know there are recommended and not recommended ways to wear and use a backpack. Improperly fit backpacks or backpacks that are too heavy can lead to poor posture. Poor posture can be a cause of low back or neck pain.

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In our modern day world where we find ourselves increasingly commuting longer distances by car to spend days rooted to a desk or computer, followed by a return commute, afternoon driving kids to practices and attending meetings, and an evening on the couch in the company of televisions, tablets, and smartphones, it is not a mystery why our backs may feel tight. And, more importantly, why the best treatment may not be stretching.

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Cheerleading is a common sport in high schools and universities but it is also popular as a competitive all-star sport. These all-star teams are often a variety of ages, they can be co-ed, and the teams practice multiple days per week for competitions. Due to the nature of the sport, cheerleaders are more susceptible to certain injuries, including low back pain.

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It seems like every company is going digital, therefore less face time and more computer time. This means an opportunity for employees to work from home.

The perks of working from home are good for those who are lucky enough to do this – you get to roll out of bed, wear your pjs, have a constant supply of snacks, and potentially lay on the couch with your laptop while getting paid. At the same time, the consequences could mean bad posture that leads to back pain. Here are some tips that will help keep you pain free while working at home:

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One of the most common treatment methods to alleviate muscular pain and post-work out soreness is the foam roller and there is a good reason for that. Foam rollers are a great treatment option to mobilize tight tissue especially for larger areas on your body that you want to address. But what if you want to really zone in on a particularly small area of tight muscle? What if the muscle you want to address isn’t easily mobilized with a foam roller? What if you don’t have a foam roller with you? Enter the massage ball.

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As a physical therapist, one of the biggest complaints I receive about low back pain (LBP) is about how it can impact one’s ability to sleep through the night. According to research, low back pain is the second most common cause of disability in adults in the U.S., and the most common reason for lost work days.¹

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