8 Everyday Causes of Musculoskeletal Pain
The onset of pain can be a long and complicated process to solve, but the cause is often rooted in the things that we repeatedly do.
Here are eight common everyday causes of musculoskeletal pain or injury and some quick fixes that can help.
1. Sitting (I bet you knew this one already)
We sit when we eat, socialise, commute, work, and even exercise! It’s no wonder why we spend so many hours glued to our seats.
Without regular corrective exercise, prolonged sitting can cause adaptations in our musculoskeletal system that result in chronic discomfort, such as neck or lower back pain. Sitting in itself isn’t a bad thing, it’s a great way for us to rest. However, spending excessive amounts of time sitting isn’t doing any favours for our physiology.
When you start paying attention to how long you’re sitting, you will also notice how you can get up and move. Take a break every hour, make a coffee, walk to the toilets two floors up (and take the stairs!), walk from the second to last stop on the tube on your way home, get your lunch from the shop a few roads down, etc.
Changing little habits here and there can add up to a lot throughout your day, and the more you get up and move, the less you will become a victim of the harmful physical adaptations that sitting can lead to.
2. Carrying a bag on one shoulder
The Classic
When you consistently carry a load on one side of your body, your body will eventually make muscular adaptations to support that load. It would be fine if your body could isolate your shoulder from its rest. But it can’t. Everything is connected. So when your right shoulder starts to sit a little higher because its supporting muscles have shortened to support your bag, that will, in turn, pull your spine slightly out of line, which might then pull your hips out of balance, which can then transfer additional pressure through one knee, and finally transfer the remaining force onto the opposing ankle.
Here, you have an almost ‘ricochet’ effect throughout your body, where uneven loads are transferred to opposing joints. Some joints, such as your knee, aren’t designed to cope very well with lateral (side) forces, so every step you take with a lateral load can cause damage or irritation to the joint.
So what do you do? The obvious answer is wearing a bag that more evenly distributes the load, like a rucksack on both shoulders. If that’s not feasible, another option is to lighten your bag as much as possible and try to alternate (by day) the shoulder on which you carry it. Additionally, you can use your opposing free hand to carry heavier items that you would otherwise have placed in your bag, like your laptop or wattle bottle.
3. Your phone
We’re all guilty of tilting our heads to stare at our phones for hours daily. But how many of you know how much your head weighs?
Let’s put it this way: How long can you hold a bowling ball in one hand with your elbow bent at 90 degrees? The average amongst us, at best, is likely to be no more than a minute.
So, how do our necks do it? Our heads weigh, on average, around 5kg. Every time you tilt your head that bit lower, the force your head places onto your neck increases and the muscles must work harder to balance the load. Your neck isn’t designed to hold loads in this way, so what often happens is your neck recruits muscles in your upper back, which in turn recruits your muscles in your lower back, and so on. Next thing you know, you’re falling into another faulty compensation pattern, and after a while, you’re left with neck, back or shoulder pain.
The first thing you can do is try to limit the amount of time you’re staring at your phone, and secondly, maintain awareness of your position when doing so. Keep your head above your shoulders and in line with the rest of your spine. This might mean raising your phone higher (and in front of) your face. Another benefit is the shoulder ache you will get after a few minutes of holding your phone up—it might help you achieve the former of the two and look at your phone less!
If you know you’re going to spend a long time looking at your phone try to lay down or prop your head and(or) arm against something so that you’re putting less strain on your muscles in awkward positions. You can also buy attachments for your phone that make holding them more ergonomic.
4. Poor lifting technique
You’ve heard this before: “Use your legs!”
Often, when we pick things up off the ground and try to do it with as little effort as possible, which generally plays out as arching our back over and keeping our legs close to straight, this isn’t a strong lifting position and will make you vulnerable to an injury.
Proper technique involves keeping your spine's neutral ‘S’ shape and ‘hinging’ forwards from your hips to lean over—this is different from folding from your abdomen and flexing your back! You may also want to bend from the knees when lifting heavier loads, like when you squat.
Applying this technique will dramatically reduce your risk of injury and enable you to lift heavier loads more easily.
5. Your shoes
Many of your musculoskeletal problems can be traced back to your feet. They are the base of your body and form the foundation on which your entire skeleton moves and resists gravity.
Think of it this way: if the foundation of your house was off-kilter by 5 degrees, would it be more or less of an issue than just your chimney being off by 5 degrees? An unstable base while moving will generate uneven forces through your body, potentially leading to wear and tear in your joints.
So, how do you make sure your footwear is fit for purpose?
Trainers
Your feet have defining characteristics, such as the height of your arches and their overall dimensions (width/height). Any good shoe shop can look at these for you and make a suitable recommendation. This is especially important for running shoes, as running demands significantly more joint resilience and exerts more force through your joints.
Work shoes
As a general rule of thumb, ensure your day-to-day work shoes aren’t overly worn out and that the heel provides stable (and level) support. Ensure that your shoes are the right size and that your feet aren’t slipping or trying to grip the sole when you walk. Sometimes, your feet slip due to your socks, so paying attention to both is essential.
Heels
Heels can be harmless when worn occasionally but are an awful choice for regular footwear. If you are forced to wear them regularly, make an effort to stretch out and strengthen your calf muscles and maintain proper pelvic alignment. This can be with a stretch board for your calves and a pilates ring for your hips.
A Google search on anterior pelvic tilt (the position your heels will put you in) will give you more information and its various remedies.
6. Your workout routine
Poor guidance with your workout routine can lead to muscle imbalances, which will again cause forces to be transferred through muscles and joints that can’t cope.
It’s important to understand that your muscles work in equal and opposing pairs and interconnected chains. A simple example is that for every chest exercise you do, you should also ensure the opposing muscle is exercised to balance it out (in this example, the back).
If you’re unsure whether your routine is building a balanced and functional physique, seek the advice of a fitness professional. You can find these at your local gym, workout studio, and even online. Just make sure they are qualified to give advice, examine your posture, and ask you many questions about your current exercise programme and daily routine.
You may need to pay, but it’s more than worth it if you’re already putting the time in—the last thing you want is to end a 3-month gym streak with a 6-month back injury that takes you right back to the beginning.
7. Fatigue
Tiredness affects much more than just how mentally alert you are. It affects the way you stand, walk and move altogether. When you’re tired, you will try to expend the least energy when you move, and this isn’t likely to play out well on your body.
Let’s take lifting things off the ground as an example; you are far more likely to flex your back and hunch over than use your legs because the latter will feel like more effort. You will also lean against things when you stand and hunch over at your desk. You may even start resting your head in uncomfortable positions for extra rest.
Paying attention to the three items below can help you rest better and be more efficient;
Sleep & Caffeine
It’s often hard to get away from this one, especially considering our hectic lifestyles. But, try your best to get as much sleep as possible (7-8 hours), and limit your caffeine intake to no more than 2-3 coffees a day, including a caffeine cut-off time of 5 pm. Decaf herbal tea such as chamomile or a bedtime blend an hour before bed can also help you doze off quicker.
Diet
Your diet can play a massive part in helping to fend off fatigue. Try to eat a varied and nutritious diet of balanced whole foods containing plenty of protein, carbohydrates, and fat. Fast food options can be expensive (and lacking) when trying to go healthy, so do your best to make a packed lunch or bring a few healthy snacks to avoid snacking on high-sugar chocolate bars or biscuits.
Water
The last one, as always, is water. Do your best to get 2 litres of pure water in a day. It’s easier than you think. Even if you take a 500ml bottle of water around, you will be amazed at how quickly you can get through 4 refills. BPA-free reusable bottles, such as stainless steel, are best, which you can find online at reasonable prices.
8. The way you sleep
This is the one that most of us are unaware of, but your sleeping position can have a significant impact on your posture and gradual onset of pain.
Things to keep in mind;
The hardness, filling and height of your pillow
If your pillow forces your head into an angular position while you sleep, this will, over time, cause unwanted discomfort and muscle/neck pain. Opt for thinner pillows and stack them, or invest in an orthopaedic pillow. This will help keep your neck aligned with the rest of your spine and prevent any one-sided muscular adaptations in the neck and surrounding areas.
Do you sleep next to your partner?
I won’t advise you to chuck them out, but they can significantly impact your sleep, from quality to position. I know it’s nice to spoon, but sleeping in this position may pull your shoulder blades out of their optimal position, and, in most cases, give you a dead arm, which might affect your sleep quality too. The best thing to do is get your niceties out of the way and then occupy your respective spaces. Some forms of sleeping beside one another are comfortable and maintain a good anatomical position, but they require many pillows. Read on.
Do you sleep on your back, side or front?
Your sleeping position is also an essential factor in your posture and rest. It’s generally advised that the best position is on your left side, as that also places your stomach in the best position to limit any harmful reflux of stomach acids. If you always sleep on the same side, your upper leg can rest on top of the lower leg in an over-adducted position (off-centre), which can cause muscle imbalances in the hips. An easy fix for this? Put a pillow between your knees. The same goes for your side (above your hips and below the rib cage), as one side will flatten against the surface while your upper side dips. Easy fix? Place another pillow under your grounded side.
Twisting your spine
Some people sleep with their legs on their sides and their upper body twisted around, with their torso facing the ceiling. This position creates a twist in your spine, which isn’t ideal. You can remedy this somewhat by (again!) placing pillows behind your lower and upper back to stop you from rolling over entirely.
I know; it seems like a lot of pillows, right? Well, yeah. But even incorporating one or two of these things should help you get a better night’s sleep and keep the onset of pain at bay.
Conclusion
Incorporating even a few of these tips can go a long way to reducing your pain. Start forming better habits today, and they will pay dividends before you know it.