If you or someone you love has ever suffered with chronic pain, you understand the impact it has on the body and lifestyle. According to Johns Hopkins and Cedars-Sinai, chronic pain can often be traced to the spine, neck and back.
Neck and back pain can come in ranges from a mild or dull ache to a severe, disabling pain. When mobility is restricted it interferes with your normal quality of life. Persistent or chronic pain is no way to live your life, and you should always consult your doctor when this occurs.
You can be proactive and attempt to stop a problem before it starts. There are products on the market, like Straight 8, that can help eliminate some of the major problems that contribute to chronic neck and back pain. It is important to learn the sources and causes to fully understand the impact chronic pain can have on our bodies.
Source And Cause
Experts explain that the source of neck pain will occur in your cervical vertebrae. Due to its range of motion and location, this leaves a portion of your neck highly vulnerable to injury.
Sometimes the exact cause is difficult to determine, but overuse, strenuous activity, trauma, injury, or fractures are the most common causes.
When this occurs, it means pain in your neck or back area can come on suddenly and intensely. You may experience pain all of the time or intermittently, but chronic pain can last for months, years, or even your entire lifetime.
Physical Impact
It goes without saying that if you are suffering from acute neck and/or back pain, that your daily productivity will be impacted. Basic movements such as walking, getting dressed, bending over may be nearly impossible.
Even if you work in an office environment, oftentimes sitting can be extremely uncomfortable and put extra stress on your neck and back causing more pain and preventing healing.
Nerve damage from a herniated disc can put pressure on spinal nerves and cause additional health problems. You may experience numbness, weakness, or severe shooting pain from your back to your leg.
Limited mobility can also lead to weight gain and loss of muscle strength. If chronic pain persists, this can lead to other health problems and mental distress.
Mental Impact
In addition to the physical impact chronic pain has on your body, limited mobility and nerve damage will also start to take its toll on your mental health as well.
Chronic pain can lead to depression, as back and neck pain can affect every aspect of your life such as exercise, work, social interaction and sleep. It can cause a great level of anxiety and stress in your life for you and your family.
Preventative
Whether your neck or back pain is temporary or long-term, it’s not always possible to prevent sudden injury. You can however, take preventative measures to avoid a common mistake that can negatively put stress on your back and cause you pain – poor posture.
The Mayo Clinic states the importance of proper posture to keep your bones and joints in alignment. Doing so helps decrease the wearing of joint surfaces and reduces the stress on spinal joints. Good posture also prevents muscle strain, and common pain associated with your neck and back.
It is difficult for many of us to achieve good posture, and constant cell phone usage is not helping the cause. We are holding our neck and back in positions that are unnatural causing our bodies damage, which can lead to chronic pain.
Posture Perfect
Most of us do not have perfect posture and suffer from the chronic pain this brings on. A device that can prevent slouching and aid our muscle memory, can help keep our neck, back, and shoulders aligned properly to avoid chronic neck and back pain. The company Hempvana makes a wearable device called Straight 8 which can be a valuable training tool for your posture.
To wear, simply slide your arms through like you would a backpack, then adjust the straps for a custom fit. There are no sizes to worry about as it comes in a universal size to fit most. This harness helps you stand taller, widen your shoulders and can also provide relief from minor pain caused by poor posture almost immediately.
The Straight 8 is not a back brace, you can wear it discreetly underneath your clothing. It delivers eight points of support for your lower and mid-back, shoulders, and neck. It is the easiest and most effective way to help retrain muscles and correct your posture.
By fully understanding that poor posture can be a main cause of chronic neck, back, and shoulder pain, we can begin to take effective preventative measures to hopefully avoid it completely.
