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get up for a five-minute movement break.
And fit in at least 30 minutes of walking
or other activity every day. In one
University of California, Los Angeles study
of low back pain sufferers, those who
walked briskly 3 hours a week had less
back pain than those who didn’t walk.
“Movement improves the flow of oxygen
and nutrients to muscles, and allows the
gel in your disks to redistribute itself,” says
Johnson. “Even if you don’t have time for
formal exercise, adding more movement to
your day will help.”
LOWER YOUR HEELS
When Pennsylvania State University
researchers compared muscle tightness
in women wearing flats versus heels of
various heights, they discovered that the
higher the heel, the more the women’s
lower-back muscles tightened. “Walking
in heels is like walking downhill,” says
Johnson. “Your center of gravity shifts
forward, so you lean backward to compen
sate. This compresses the joints in your
lower back.”
BETTER BACK ADVICE
Switch to heels
with a height of one inch or less, and go
for a wider heel for better support. Can’t
break the high-heel habit? Bring flats or
cute sneakers and switch into them
whenever possible during the day.
THIN OUT WALLETS
The sciatic nerve runs from the lower back
through the buttocks and down the leg.
Men who put a packed wallet in their back
pockets compress this nerve every time
they sit down.
BETTER BACK ADVICE
Put wallets on a
diet—remove receipts, out-of-date
insurance cards, and store discount cards.
Some men avoid bulkiness altogether with
thin, flexible wallets, such as the ALL-ETT,
all-ett.com .
And some men simply transfer
their wallets to their front pockets.
TO TE A LOAD
Oversized, overloaded purses can be
a real strain on y o u r back. C onsider
sw itching to a H ealthy Back Bag to te
fro m A m eriB ag These stylish totes,
available in leather, m ic ro fib e r and
o th e r fabrics, d istrib u te the w eight
m uch m o re evenly across yo u r
u p p e r body. S tarting at a b o u t $50
fro m
ameribag.com.
STRETCH IT OUT
A significant p o rtio n o f low er back
pain originates fro m tig h t muscles
in the back and ham strings. The
deceptively sim ple C oreS tretch
fro m M edi-D yne lets you stretch
b o th sets o f m uscles (as w ell as
m any o th e rs) effectively. The
device quickly collapses fo r sim ple
storage betw een uses. A b o u t $ 6 0
a t
amazon.com.
HANG LOOSE
A t first, it’s a little disconcerting to
tu rn upside d o w n on th e EP-550
Inversion Table. B ut then yo u feel
y o u r spine lengthen and
straighten and y o u r tig h t muscles
relax, and you begin to
understand h o w a fe w m inutes a
day on this device can keep m any
people’s backs free fro m pain.
$360 fro m
teeter-inversion.com.
Buy a Better Back
W ith back pain a ffe c tin g so m any people, it’s n o su rp rise th a t countless n e w p ro d u c ts
aim ed a t easing th e d is c o m fo rt h it th e m a rke t e very year. H ere are som e th a t w ork.
1 8 8 MARCH 2009 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS
PHOTOS: MARTY BALDWIN
