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Lifestyle causes 86% of people back pain

Spoiler: The largest growing group of people were under 30!

Sedentary lifestyles and repeatedly looking down at mobile phones and other devices have led to a huge rise in the number of young people who are experiencing back and neck pain, experts have warned.

Forty-five per cent of the 16- to 24-year-olds surveyed by the British Chiropractic Association (BCA) said they are currently living with neck or back pain, compared with 28 per cent of 18- to 24-year-olds last year.

Read the full news article here.

We've put together some top tips to help your back stay healthy. If you have any questions or other advice ask below!

Our Top Tips

We caught up with Dr Neil Osborne (Director of AECC Clinic) to ask for his top tips in maintaining a healthy spine:

- Bending over to touch your toes puts a big load on the spine so, it’s a bad exercise and one to avoid when possible

- Your back is at its most vulnerable first thing in the morning, so especially avoiding bending and twisting then. Don’t bend over to shave, put a mirror in the shower and stand up straight, and don’t bend over the bath to wash your hair!

-Stand, lift, sit and get out of a chair properly

- Take regular breaks – even if it’s just to get up to make tea for everyone you’ll be so popular

- There are good chairs and bad chairs, but the problem really comes down to sitting which can almost double the load on your lower back… the chair type is secondary…. Sit high (knees lower than your hips) when you can and MOVE around when you can.