When you’re trying to manage your pain, you’ll need to consider how it started. Did it come on suddenly after an injury, or has it been getting worse over time? Does the pain radiate into your legs or arms?

Lower back and neck pain are something everyone will experience at some point in their lives. This pain is therefore a normal part of life. The good news is that lower back and neck pain are rarely serious, so you should be able to manage the pain on your own.

Lower back and neck pain can be a very unpleasant experience

Pain can significantly limit your daily life. Depending on how the pain started, you should take different approaches. When pain in the lower back and neck occurs suddenly and isn’t caused by a serious injury, the best thing you can do is to gradually start using your body again. In other words, you should slowly return to the activities you were doing before the pain began. It may therefore be a good idea to temporarily scale back your daily activities, but not stop them entirely. You may take mild pain relievers at first, but pain relievers have limited effectiveness over the long term, so it is the gradual return to activity that is most important.

Lower back and neck pain: many factors are involved

Pain in the lower back and neck that has been gradually worsening over a long period of time is a different situation. In this case, the pain in the lower back and neck has less to do with an actual injury and more to do with the body as a whole. Pain is generally a complex issue, where many different factors can play a role in how we experience it. The most common factors affecting our experience of pain are stress, sleep, or inactivity. It is therefore always a good idea to consider whether there are more stressful elements in your daily life than usual. The same applies to sleep, where you can consider whether your circadian rhythm and overall sleep quality are affected. It’s also possible that the pain in your lower back and neck is caused by poor ergonomics, so it would be a good idea to review your workstation, for example, to ensure it’s ergonomically correct.

Stress and sleep patterns can be difficult to change, but regular physical activity—both at work and in your free time—can help your body cope with more before pain sets in. When pain in the lower back and neck is increasing, doing specific exercises can also make a big difference by providing the regular activity our bodies need. But the most important thing is that the activities you spend your time on are meaningful to you. The intensity of the activities isn’t that important when it comes to overcoming pain in your lower back and neck.