As one that broke bones over thirty times(I think is 33--lost track) and them with 20s start with a mysterious disease that with 40s discovered that is ankylosing spondylitis I done almost everything.
The top 3 things:
1 swim, like pilates it do not hurt your articulations like other exercises.
2 ergo human chair... lumbar support is all
3 pilates roll is a fundamental thing to put all your bones in place. With some knowledge you can put some bones in place without any tool, and with pilates roll you can put all in place. I feel pain in all my bones so I know them, when something is out of order I must fix it fast. The reality is that most people have the spine out of order and do not care... it leads to great problems and people accept that and do nothing.
Today I use 5-10 thousand dollar/month of medicine and the illness progress, mostly payed by Brazil.
The fact is that doctors still are limited because they treat the illness, not the user. Its very important a body conciseness if you have non standard problem. After 300 doctors 1 believe and send me to one that found the problem in 5 minutes... really a bad joke!

 

Hi Nimbus! I spent 10 days in hospital in 2009 due to L5/L6-induced backpain and herniated disc. First things first: consult a physiotherapist! Find out what causes your back pain. It might come from the vertebrae (like with me), or you might have a bad sitting position/chair that forces your back musculature to permanently flex (plus other reasons).

I haven't had any issues ever since and here's what I did ...
1) get a good chair
here's a special chair that I can recommend => http://www.buero-ideen.de/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/rotpfeil.jpg
The "secret" of this chair is that it moves in all directions. It's much like those inflatable sitting balls, which would also work nice. Key is: as children we do never sit still, as adults we do and that's a major problem. So what these chairs/balls do is to actually keep your pelvis moving, which forces your deep lying pelvis musculature to balance the motion and thus be strengthened.

PLUS ... the swapper chair is "certified sweet looking in audio-environment" as you can see in my friends mastering studio :D


2) If you prefer regular chairs, make sure they have good back-support for the lower spine.
3) Additionally, get one of these => http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/71jOgeaIGgL._SY355_.jpg
That's the one I use, it's a memory foam pad from a company named "TEMPUR". That will help you stabilize your lower spine while you are in pain.

"But what to do for instant pain relief? It hurts NAO!!!"

You need to exercise! Not jogging or dumbells ... if you suffer from vertebrate disc-pains than jogging might actually be bad. You need to strengthen your pelvis and back muscles.

For back exercises with "thera-band" => https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=back+pain+theraband

I personally have two 5-minute sessions everyday where I do a set of 5 exercises. 3 of them I don't want to recommend just now, as you don't know yet WHAT exactly is hurting. But 2 exercises will help you a lot and are not dangerous, no matter what the reason is ...
======
a) lie down on the floor (yoga mat e.t.), arms relaxed, somewhere on the sides, knees pulled up, legs slightly opened ... like this => http://antranik.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/lie-down-on-your-back.jpg

in that position start shaking your butt left right, fast but not too fast BUT!!! make sure that while you shake, you keep your leg/thigh and abdominal muscles COMPLETELY relaxed. Only the deep pelvis musculature is to move the hip left and right.

Do that for a minute or two, as with all things pain-related: EASY DOES IT! Take a break for 20 secs, then repeat to shake. You can repeat that cycle - say: a maximum of 4 to 5 rounds.
======
b) stay in the above position, make sure your back and shoulders lie flat on the floor
now start pulling up your pelvis, also WITHOUT the aid of your thigh-muscles! Control yourself to keep your upper body relaxed when you do it and DO NOT stop breathing when you pull like many do when doing situps (crunches?)

Like above: repeat to your liking and also "easy does it". if it hurts STOP! and as per usual with medical probs: consult physiotherpist/doctor. Hope that helps ... coz man ... I feel you

 

@ovalf Power to you for sticking it out Thank you for the tips, I will youtube some pilates exercises.

 

@BBSiteUser Thanks, some valuable info right there (I'll be shaking it up tonight hehe). That chair looks cool (the studio too).

I'll be adding some of those videos to my playlist thanks for your time, I appreciate it

 

no prob, mate! as i read in your posts "gonna youtube it" ... plz, don't miss out on the doctor. you have to find out what's causing pain to also find out what exercises you should make.

Wishing you a speedy recovery to painlessness!

EDIT/PS: btw ... where jogging under some circumstances can be bad, walking is always recommended. doesn't have to be nordic walking, just plain and simple walking ... 2-3 miles or so/day. It's mainly all about movement.

 

Last edited: Feb 20, 2016

Side-note: How many have standing-desk and stand up while working (producing, sound design, editing, mixing, mastering, etc)?

I've been interested to switch up my workflow lately, as sitting is not very good for the hours that I do.

 

Last edited: Feb 20, 2016

I have a little standing alcove, just enought for a notebook or a book to read up on stuff and not do it while i sit. I sit too many hours anyway (sw dev, audio-/video projects ...)

 

I was just going to say stand up working at your desk. In addition to seeing a chiropractor, exercise etc etc this has been good for me. It did require some getting-used-to, as I got tired easily when I started. Nowadays I stand up working most of the day.
I bought a desk that can be raised and lowered using electrical motors in order to be able to switch between standing and sitting without effort.

 

Now that's a sweet concept ! I'd prefer standing for a couple of hours and take an hour off to sit. Makes more sense in a way...

 

*nod* additional benefit from standing: you are less prone to cardiac "malfunctions" of any kind - where "less" means a whole lot less! evolution planned humans to move and walk rather than sit all day.

 

The easiest solution is a dynamic sitting pillow. I had horrible pain in my back over 2 years from mixing 5-6 hours a day.
Helped me so much that the pain completely disappeared after using one of these.

You don't have to spend a fortune on a new chair and those pillows are damn inexpensive also.

 

Five years ago I switched out my office chair for a yoga ball. I'm a video editor by trade, and 12 hour days at the desk are common. I was starting to really suffer on a particularly long project. One day in desperation I grabbed my girlfriend's yoga ball because I just couldn't sit in the (expensive) office chair any longer. It took a couple days to get used to, but man what a difference!

When I was 16 I broke my L3 and L4 on a ski hill. Now eye-strain is my enemy, but the back is quite happy!

 

Last edited: Feb 20, 2016

1. Sitting, even in "correct" position burdens your spine abot 40% more than standing and about 440% more than lying. There's no escape from this, so the simplest advice would be - just don't sit if it's not neccessary. Stand up, lay down or squat instead.

2. Well, easier said than done, so if none of the above is possible make short, ACTIVE breaks, exercise as often as you can.

3. Don't cross your legs (you need to control this, as they tend to do so unconsciously).

4. Don't support your head on elbows, don't "push" your body forwards (eg. towards computer screen). The same goes to your neck.

5. Degenerations of the lower (LS) section of your spine may cause instability of upper parts, and that's where the really unpleasant story begins.

6. Apart from spine problems sustained sitting may affect your blood circulatory system, ignoring this threat may be very dangerous, not just to your health, but to your life as well. To avoid this see point 1.

7. If the pain is prolonged and strong visit your doctor before it's too late for conservative therapy.

 

Last edited: Feb 20, 2016

Simply, like our bodies are never ben made for really heavy work, on the other side, they are not made for sitting long hours and what we doing to our bodies last 50 years is pure criminal . We want to prepare our bodies to do something different to how was our bodies functioning through evolution of millions of years. If we don't do physically heavy work, the only solution is exercise and i mean every day. Good chairs and yoga, although can help are not solution on long run. People think that by sitting still will hurt only bones and joints, which cause pain, but even more important we will hurt our metabolism our heart and our blood circulation. If we play with that, we have to face with consequences. Our heart should be pumping at near 100% at least once a day. This mean puls of 140 and up for at least a few minutes. Once a day we also should be full sweaty from whatever activites(best is outdor- remember our roof was a sky not long ago), this will help greatly with metabolism which is key factor for our health als almost every deadly illness come from not properly working metabolism. With prespiration we also get rid all kind of toxins in our skin that can affect the proper functioning of the processes in our body. There is no magic formula, if we care for our inner organs, if we exercise as we should and be enough on our legs , we will not have back pain. In oder words, we have two choices, we can sitt and can eat pain pills and buying pricey seats or we can take care of our bodies as we should. Key factor here is standing, some studies show that even if exercise every day, this alone will not be enough if that time will be the only time we are on our legs through day. We should be on our legs at least 4 hours per day constantly. Probably even more.

 

Last edited: Feb 20, 2016

i have a desk with a motor, so i can switch it up
like this

i bought one second hand, and changed it with my "desk plate?" (the actual wood) wich is bigger so i can use it to draw
carrys about 100kg i think;
important because you have to think about: should it carry you computer, or how long your cables have to be ;)
but it is worth it

 

If You live by a sea, go swimming at least 2 times a week ... If not, a swimming pool will do.

Keyword: "swimming"

 

Sitting straight is not automatically better. Check this out:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6187080.stm

 

Thanks!
Yeah, this is exactly what I'm planning on doing (getting the motorized/hydrolics legs and put my own DIY top board on it). I've seen lots of second hand ones, but usually they are still pretty expensive. I'm keeping my eyes open though.
Thanks for the tip and the heads up on cables, etc.

 

I guarantee you 100% it'll cure your (normal) lower back pain. If not, then go see a professional.