Exercise, Not Rest, Best Prescription For Back Pain

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- When picking up something heavy, everyone knows to use their knees. But if you forget, or you're just in a hurry and don't do it ... there goes your back.

That happened to Dawn Thompson. The 31-year-old woman knew something was wrong right after doing yard work.

"It felt like someone just reached in my back and grabbed my nerve and just latched hold of it and just yanked on it," Thompson said. "I was sort of bent over a little bit, and I could barely walk. I couldn't even walk to the car."

Thompson immediately saw her doctor, who prescribed physical therapy, and she was quickly doing better.

"She's so much better than she used to be," said Ilene Chazan, a physical therapist at St. Vincent's Medical Center in Jacksonville.

Chazan said she helps patients identify the best position for their spine, teaches them how to move safely holding that spine position, then strengthening them.

"Core control is the latest term and it's ... using the deep abdominal muscles, using the deep back muscles, the pelvic floor muscles and the diaphragm in a way that protects the spine, helps the spine move," Chazan told WJXT-TV in Jacksonville.

Chazan also said bed rest is not what people with a back injury need, but to keep moving.

"Just to walk is great; walking in your neighborhood ... can make a tremendous difference in terms of your back pain and overall sense of well-being," Chazan said.

And when someone with back pain does rest, they should use a pillow under or between the knees to balance the spine.