{"id":6982,"date":"2016-09-12T08:51:08","date_gmt":"2016-09-11T22:51:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.privatefleet.com.au\/?p=6982"},"modified":"2020-06-20T00:50:32","modified_gmt":"2020-06-19T14:50:32","slug":"how-to-stop-driving-becoming-a-pain-in-the-neck-butt-and-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/blog\/how-to-stop-driving-becoming-a-pain-in-the-neck-butt-and-back\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Stop Driving Becoming A Pain In The Neck, Butt and Back"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Lower-Back-Pain\"Spending too long in the driver\u2019s seat (or, for that matter, the passenger seat) can be hard on your back.\u00a0 One very good friend of mine suffered from mysterious back pain during a time that his job involved very long driving hours\u2026 and this \u201cmystery\u201d pain cleared up as quickly as leftovers discovered by seagulls when the driving hours reduced to just a few hours per day. Driving is fun, but do too much of it and it becomes a literal pain in the neck. Or backside. Or back. Or hips\u2026<\/p>\n

Yes, car seats are very comfortable, at least in more modern models (we\u2019ll ignore the vinyl-covered horrors of the 1980s and 1970s, classics though they may be).\u00a0 Many have lumbar support and nice, supportive headrests, and allow you to adjust them this way and that.\u00a0 However, if you don\u2019t have all the fancy features in your particular set of wheels or if you don\u2019t take the time to adjust the seat to fit your body, apart from making sure that you can reach the pedals and steering wheel comfortably, you can be putting yourself at risk of back pain.<\/p>\n

If you do just a wee bit of driving on a daily basis \u2013 a regular commute that adds up to maybe three hours a day maximum, you won\u2019t put yourself at much risk of backache. Go for longer drives of four or five hours plus, especially if you do it regularly, and you can end up with aches and twinges that may get you worrying about early onset arthritis and lumbago.<\/p>\n

So what do you do if you have to drive for longer periods but you don\u2019t want it to be a literal pain? After all, if you\u2019re uncomfortable and pain in your lower back is nagging away at you just about constantly, then this will take some of your attention from your driving\u2026 to say nothing of reducing \u00a0your pleasure.<\/p>\n

OK, here\u2019s some handy hints:<\/p>\n

Sit properly.<\/strong>\u00a0 This is an absolute basic and we ought to do it even on short journeys. The right way to sit is with your feet firmly planted on the floor (at least when they\u2019re not working the pedals) with your knees slightly higher than your hips (now you know why some seats have tilt adjustment). \u00a0Your back should be pressed against the back of the seat \u2013 no slouching or hunching over.\u00a0 If your car seats don\u2019t have lumbar support or if they don\u2019t have enough lumbar support, you can play around with cushions to make sure that your back is properly supported.\u00a0 Pay particular attention to your \u201clumbar lordosis\u201d, which is doctor-speak for that curve in your lower back just above your bottom.<\/p>\n

Make sure that you can reach the steering wheel without much stretching<\/strong> \u2013 if it\u2019s too much of a stretch, this will encourage you to hunch over to reach it properly. OK, you don\u2019t want the steering wheel to be prodding you in the tummy or bumping you if you lean forward to adjust the mirror or adjust the air con.\u00a0 But don\u2019t have it so far away that you have to adopt the cartoon zombie position (arms stretched out straight at shoulder height).<\/p>\n

Make sure that your shocks and suspension are in good order,<\/strong> and get the tyre pressure right.\u00a0 Bouncing about puts a lot of pressure on your spine (and the spines of your passengers).\u00a0 You can do what you can to avoid potholes and charging at speed bumps full bore, of course.<\/p>\n

Keep your back muscles warm.<\/strong>\u00a0 This is why heated seats were invented by Saab <\/a>and why they\u2019re so popular in most modern cars. \u00a0Warmth helps stop the muscles cramping and stiffening up, so your back won\u2019t get as sore. Plus the comfort of heated seats also encourages you to sit with your back pressed against the seat where it should be.<\/p>\n

Get out and move!<\/strong> Holding any position for a long time is going to put stress on your muscles. It won\u2019t do your heart or your waistline any good, either. This means that you need to go for a little walk every so often when you\u2019re driving.\u00a0 This has the added bonus of freshening you up (and I don\u2019t just mean because you need to head to the loo) and reducing driver fatigue.\u00a0 If you are driving for a holiday, this means that you have an excuse to stop and take photos of the scenery or check out that park or whatever takes your fancy. You could do some of those exercises to prevent lower back pain but these aren\u2019t particularly practical on the forecourt of the petrol station\u2026<\/p>\n

Clear out your pockets.<\/strong>\u00a0 Having a big lumpy wallet (lucky you!) in your back pocket makes it hard to sit comfortably. The same goes for cellphones and your house keys.\u00a0 Lumps and hard objects in your trousers (get your mind out of the gutter right now!) encourage you to sit at a less than ideal position.\u00a0 There\u2019s a reason why cars have a multitude of storage compartments around the cabin, so empty out your pockets. Right now, all the women with handbags are feeling a bit smug…<\/p>\n

While researching this article, I came across one suggestion from a back specialist that you should only drive passenger cars rather than utes or SUVs.\u00a0 This is somewhat extreme in our opinion but if you have bad back problems, it might be worth considering.\u00a0 However, it\u2019s not really practical if you need something big to tow the trailer or the caravan for miles on end!<\/p>\n

  http:\/\/credit-n.ru\/offers-zaim\/joymoney-srochnye-online-zaymi.html<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Spending too long in the driver\u2019s seat (or, for that matter, the passenger seat) can be hard on your back.\u00a0 One very good friend of mine suffered from mysterious back pain during a time that his job involved very long driving hours\u2026 and this \u201cmystery\u201d pain cleared up as quickly as leftovers discovered by seagulls […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[86],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6982","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6982"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6982\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11493,"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6982\/revisions\/11493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}