An activity that causes a handful of symptoms that we see in our office almost every day is driving. Symptoms include upper back pain, headaches, and knee pain, but the most common is low back pain. Here we have some tips that you can utilize while driving to prevent these manifestations.
 
These tips are designed to prevent misalignments of the spine and pelvis. If you are currently experiencing pain, you likely already have some misalignments that should be addressed by a chiropractor. Our DNFT chiropractic approach is a good option for getting gently realigned.  If you aren’t currently experiencing low back pain while driving but you drive quite a lot, it is still a good idea to get your spinal alignment checked as misalignments commonly take some time to present as pain. 
 
Sitting in general is stressful to the spine. When we sit, our lower back muscles are neurologically “turned off”, causing misalignments in the low back. Driving is especially stressful because in addition we are also (usually) using our right leg to control the car’s pedals. When doing this, we put a torque in our pelvis which puts stress on the pelvic bones, low back, and right iliotibial (IT) band. This becomes especially problematic after only about a half hour of driving! The low back pain from driving usually starts as feeling tight and achy on one or both sides. 
 
Listed below are some easy tips that can help prevent these issues from arising. Again, if you are currently experiencing pain, we highly recommend making an appointment at our office. 

• Turn on cruise control! If you are able, cruise control is a great way to take out the pelvic torque from the pelvis. Although it doesn’t completely remove the stress to the low back from by driving, it can help keep the pelvis more even. 
• Empty your pockets. If you are sitting with a wallet or phone in your pocket while driving, you are again causing torque to the pelvis. Make sure your pockets are empty and that you are sitting evenly on both sit bones.
• Glute fires. When sitting, we are neurologically turning off the glute muscles. These muscles have a large role in stability of the pelvis and low back – we need them to be turned on! In order to simulate walking and turn back on these muscles, you can engage them by squeezing them one at a time back and forth. This exercise can be done any time you are sitting and you can’t do too many! I try to do at least 100 fires per side for every half hour of driving. 

These are a few simple practices that can help the alignment and stability of the low back and pelvis.

Remember, if you’re currently experiencing pain or if you currently drive for long periods at a time, it is a good idea to have your spinal alignment checked by a professional. Give us a call at 805-434-2077 and we’ll answer any questions for you.

And as always, if we find your condition causing your low back pain from driving exceeds the scope of our DNFT practice, we will refer you to the appropriate help. For more information, you can read more about our chiropractic philosophy and what to expect in a visit to our Templeton chiropractic practice. Have a great day!