Sometimes your back pain is caused by something that you do. Other times, it's caused by something you DON'T do. Okay, I'll be totally honest with you:

There are a LOT of reasons for chronic back pain. It could be caused (at least partially) by:

• Foods that causes inflammation (swelling in your muscles and soft tissues.)
• Additives (chemicals & toxins) that are in your food.
• Vitamin & mineral deficiencies.
• Artificial sweeteners (chemicals & toxins) (Oops! Did I already say that?)
• Muscles that are "out of balance." That means muscles on one part of your body are not in balance with the muscles that oppose them. Some of your muscles are "too tight" and some are not strong enough to keep you where nature designed you to be. This creates muscle strain.
• Injury to a muscle or area of soft tissue from incorrect use, over-use, under-use or an accident.
• Anger and sadness; strong negative emotions.

Let's just stick to muscle strain here. We can talk about the other causes at a different time.

Can muscle strain can be caused by doing things over and over? Sure, and especially when the same movement is done over and over again incorrectly.

Here's an example:

I was at the airport and I was watching the men who unload the luggage from the belly of the planes. I'll call them "Fred" and "Ed."

As each bag came down the belt toward the baggage cart, Fred would bend, lift and twist to get the bag off the belt. Then he would heft and jerk the bag onto the cart. Every move he made looked like an effort. I mean, the man was working! (Lifting and twisting at the same time is a common cause of low back spasm.)

Ed, on the other hand, looked like he was dancing. He watched the approaching bag, and when it was just at the right height for him, he comfortably caught it. It appeared that he used the momentum of the moving belt to continue the move to the cart. Ed's moves were smooth and effortless.

Who do you suppose went home with a chronic backache?

Perhaps you'll say to me, "Yes, but maybe Fred was moving like that because his back already hurts." And, that could be true.

But, when we "stiffen up" to protect muscles that are already uncomfortable, we run the risk of further injury. A flexible body that moves smoothly is a lot less likely to develop chronic back pain.

Here are 2 things you can do to prevent back pain:

1. If you hold your stomach in when you lift, it will help prevent back muscle strain.

2. If you move your feet rather than twist your body, that will prevent back pain, too. There are muscles on each side of your waist that can spasm if you twist and lift at the same time. Spasm = pain.

The best things you can do to reduce your back pain are to educate yourself about the causes of back pain, learn how muscles work, and learn what self-help measures to take.