Have you ever felt back pain and wondered why your back hurts when you walk? Well, that’s your body trying to bring your attention to the spine. It is important you maintain a suitable posture while walking. While walking, significant pressure falls on the spine, which affects the structure of the rest of your body. If you experience a backache while walking, keep an eye on your posture.
So now that you know why your spine hurts when you walk, you may be interested in understanding how to stop it. It is important you remember that sciatica (lower back pain) can be primarily caused due to the walking pattern, but it has several other causes. However, if you feel the pain only while walking or standing up, here is a guide on how you can relieve your back pain:
- Correct your posture
The ideal way to walk is to keep your spine straight in line with the rest of your body. It avoids extra pressure and weight on any particular area. It would help to distribute the weight throughout the body. Follow the tips given below to put an end to your question, “Why does my back hurt when I walk?“:
- Walk with your head upright. Looking down creates a strain on your neck.
- Move forward with your rear leg. Taking long steps at a time creates more pressure on one leg, injuring the ligaments and tendons connected to the lower back.
- Avoid walking in a droop down position. If the shoulder muscle is strained, it will create pressure on the back. Walk upright and let your shoulders roll naturally.
- Avoid rolling your hips. Let them be in a natural way. Walking in an unnaturally swinging manner would suddenly put pressure on one side of your body. It can also result in disbalance.
- While waking, pull in your stomach, keep your core tight. It would decrease the centre of gravity and help to balance. It also helps to avoid unequal weight distribution.
- Practise proper footwork. The heel should first touch the ground, followed by the rest of the feet and move forward by pushing back the ground.
Thus, correcting your body posture would help the lower back by d=reducing the pressures on calves, thighs and foot muscles. Hence, while walking, your spine is highly imaged with your steps.
So next time you are wondering, “Why does my spine hurt when I walk?“ you should start observing your posture first.
- Lose weight
The spine is the weight bearer of the entire body. Higher the weight would be the pressure on your back. Thus if you have obesity and often feel extreme back pain, consider getting into shape.
The weight of your upper body around the stomach pulls the pelvis forward and creates extra pressure on the lower back. In addition, the weight of the upper body falls on the lower body, which further makes the backache severe.
The fat deposition also affects the ligaments and tendons of your spine as it makes it difficult to walk. It further strains the back muscles, which displaces them from their neutral position causing higher strain on the bones. The extra weight due to obesity shifts the spine alignment while walking.
If your BMI or body mass index is higher than ideal, it would be best to lose weight, as it will help resolve the problem of sciatica. So consult your doctor and physical trainer for weight loss if you are looking for an answer to “Why does my back hurt when I walk?” instead of trying your ways.
- Exercise and physical therapy
It is natural for older people to experience back pain due to wrong tissues and cartilage. Besides ageing, if you are young and facing sciatica, the primary reason for it could be due to a sedentary lifestyle. If you are not physically active and spend most of your time sitting on your office chair, the chances of sciatica are higher in your case. A physically inactive lifestyle could result in muscles and joints stiffening. That can make it challenging to sit, walk and even stand.
The cause of inactivity is not only a sedentary lifestyle. Next time you feel back pain and wonder, “Why does my spine hurt when I walk?“, overview your physical activities throughout the day. It can also be due to traumatic injuries or conditions which need complete bed rest. Even when the patient has recovered successfully from their injury or diseases, they face problems in all kinds of movements. The cause behind this pain is that the spine was not used for bearing the bodyweight for a long time and hence cannot bear it anymore.
Starting with light physical activity can help with chronic pain. However, the exercise plan should be customised for older patients, considering all other conditions. For older patients, physical therapy is a better option as it is under the supervision of an expert.
Physical activity and therapy are two ways to reduce the chronic pain of sciatica. Your therapist would preferably plan out a schedule for your treatment to loosen your joints and strengthen the muscles making the back stronger to bear the weight.
- Spend on good quality footwear
Many times, the answer to the query about why your spine hurts when you walk lies right under your feet. One of the leading causes of back pain is flat feet which can cause misalignment of the bones, muscles and ligaments. In addition, flat feet cause more arching of your lower back, thereby higher strain in the muscles of the region.
Your doctor would preferably suggest you wear orthotics. They are customised moulds that would fit your shoes and correct your posture. The feet would adjust the body posture as per the difference made by using orthotics and adjust the way you walk according to which looks more natural. The body would naturally redistribute the weight falling on your lower back to other parts and make your posture correct.
Orthotics are a great way to address chronic pain as they are easy to use and produce visible results in a short period for mild to moderate levels of sciatica. It would need time to show results for the chronic spins, but it is definitely worth the wait.
Many footwear manufacturing companies had started to keep orthotic shoes to attract customers. However, there is a massive difference between the store-bought and a doctor’s suggested orthotic. It is better not to use it without a doctor’s consultation. Orthotics are made as per the requirement of the patient after examining the problem. A store purchased orthotic can further increase your back pain.
- Hot and cold therapy
If you are facing extreme back pain, try using a hot bag or an ice pack on the region for instant relief. In addition, they can be used as supplementary aids while continuing the treatment.
Heat bags would improve the blood circulation in the lower back area, thus, dilating the blood vessels. As a result, it helps to provide relief to any pinched nerve, muscle or nerve. In addition, the blood is rich in nutrients and aids the healing process.
Cold therapy restricts blood flow in the lower back area. It would help to reduce inflammation or swelling in the region. It is the best option for providing instant relief to the joint and muscles area which were pulled or strained while walking or for any other reason. Due to blood flow constriction, the sensation and nerve activity is reduced in the area for some time and decreases the pain temporarily.
You may get the answer to “Why does my back hurt when I walk “by visiting us at Ujala Cygnus Hospital.
So if you are experiencing spinal or back pain, consult with the experts at Ujala Cygnus Hospital for an excellent treatment.
