• Exercise to keep your back healthy and strong. Activities such as walking, swimming or biking can increase lower back muscle strength and endurance. 
• Learn how to lift objects safely to protect your back.
• Lift objects by bending your hips and knees, then squatting to pick up the item.  Hold the item close to your body.
• When in doubt, ask for help when lifting heavy or awkward objects.
• When moving heavy objects, push rather than pull.
• Protect your back while sitting.  Choose chairs with good lower back support, armrests and a swivel base.  Keep your knees and hips level.
• Standing posture is important.  When you stand, your ears, shoulders, hips, and knees should be in line with one another. If you must stand for long periods of time, alternate placing your feet on a low footstool to take some of the load off your lower back.
• Wear low-heeled shoes.
• Take breaks to stretch when driving or sitting at your desk for long periods.
• Try different sleeping positions that protect your back.
• If you sleep on your side, try putting a pillow between your knees.
• If you sleep on your back, use a pillow under your knees.  Roll up a small towel and use it to support your lower back.
• If you sleep on your stomach, place a pillow under your hips.
• Eat a nutritious diet. Getting plenty of calcium, phosphorus, and vitamin D may help prevent osteoporosis.
• Maintain a healthy weight to avoid excess strain on your lower back.
• If you're a smoker, quit. Smoking increases your risk of bone loss and increases your sensitivity to pain.

Here are some things you can do at home if you experience back pain:

• Keep moving. Ease back into your daily activities. Avoid activities that cause back pain. You may need to reduce your activity level.
• Apply cold, then heat to soothe sore and inflamed muscles.
• Cold is good for reducing the initial inflammation of acute back strain or sprain. Wrap ice in a cloth and apply to area of back pain for 20 minutes every three to four hours. After 4 or 5 days apply heat.
• Heat applied to the back increases blood circulation to the back and can speed healing. It also helps muscles to relax. Apply heat 20 minutes at a time. You can use a hot water bottle, heating pad, or a hot shower or bath. Moist heat penetrates more deeply and more quickly than dry heat. Do not apply heat to an inflamed area. *Wait at least an hour between heat applications. Do not sleep on a heating pad to avoid overheating the tissues. *Consult your health care team if you have circulation problems or nerve damage before applying cold or heat.
• Use over-the-counter pain relievers such as relievers such as Tylenol to help control pain. Non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as aspirin and ibuprofen also can reduce inflammation, swelling and stiffness.

Most back pain disappears with home treatment and self-care. In rare cases, back pain can signal a serious medical problem. Seek a doctor immediately if your back pain:

• Occurs with chest pain
• Feels constant or intense, especially at night
• Spreads down one or both leg.
• Causes weaknesses, numbness or tingling in one or both legs
• Causes new loss of bowel or bladder control
• Is associated with abdominal pain or pulsation (throbbing) • Is the result of a fall or blow to your back
• Is accompanied by unexplained weight loss
• Also see your doctor if you are older than age 50 or have a history of back pain or cancer

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