Is Your Back Pain Worse in the Summer?

With the hot summer months comes more time spent outside, and a lot more movement. People are enjoying hiking, playing pickleball, biking, and yard work, and their backs are paying for it! We are seeing a lot more patients with back pain and compression fractures in our office. Of course, movement is a good thing but after hibernating all winter and being used to the stiff cold air, it can put our bodies under a lot of stress.

We see a lot of people picking up new activities that they haven’t done much of before. Sports, running, and even swimming are all great for you but make sure you warm up your body beforehand and ease into it. If you are really enjoying something, you’re probably not thinking it could be hurting your body, but too much of a new movement can strain your back. We always recommend easing into new activities and slowly picking up the amount of time you spend doing one thing. So if you love biking or running, start off with just a few miles and slowly increase your distance each week. This can apply to all activities and will help you build up strength and endurance and keep your back safe!

The same goes for gentle movements like yard work and gardening. Do you always seem to get a sore back a few hours after taking care of your yard? All the bending and lifting can bring just as much strain as more intense activities. Make sure you’re stretching before and after, and always bending from your hips. Proper form can be a lifesaver for summer activities. You are also more prone to dehydration when working in the yard under the hot sun. Bring a water bottle out with you and take regular breaks to hydrate. Dehydration causes a long list of issues, back pain being one of them! If you feel like your back is still sore after a few hours, schedule an acupuncture appointment and keep a regular treatment routine during the summer to keep your pain at bay.

Oddly enough, we are seeing a lot more falls during the summer too. Especially patients falling downstairs. For most, this will lead to just muscle pain and soreness, but in more serious cases, we see compression fractures.

Immediately after a serious fall, you should always go straight to your local ER. But what happens after that? After taking the muscle relaxers and pain killers? The pain from a compression fracture can linger for a few months. A great time to start acupuncture is about 2 weeks after a seriously traumatic injury. his gives the area time to heal, get more range of motion, and out of 10/10 pain. We recommend coming in for treatment once a couple of weeks have passed and your pain has reduced to an 8/10 or 7/10. That’s when you should come in so we can start to reduce the inflammation and heal the area.

Back pain doesn’t need to stop you from enjoying your favorite activities. If you feel the pain coming on, be mindful and allow your body to rest. If you know your back pain is worse in the summer, schedule some acupuncture appointments ahead of time. Enjoy everything this season has to offer and take advantage of the extra time we get to spend adventuring and moving. We hope these tips help you have a healthy and happy summer!