Why Does my Back Hurt While I Drive- Bozeman Chiropractor

A common question we get at Gallatin Valley Chiropractic is "why does my back hurt while I drive?" This is a very common problem people face every single day, especially with jobs that require a lot of commuting. How common is it you might ask? It is estimated that four out of five adults will experience low back pain at some point in their lives (Link Here). In this blog we will go over a couple possible reasons you may be experiencing low back pain and what you can do to help it. 

Possible Reasons You're Getting Back Pain While Driving

Sustained Poor Posture

• Depending on your ergonomic set up in your car, your back pain could be due to sitting with bad posture, for too long. A very common example of this would be having the seat reclined too much, which results in a forward head position and the upper back rounded, resulting in upper back and neck pain.

Lack of Support

• Again, going back to the ergonomic set up of your car. Lack of lumbar support is a common culprit of low back pain while driving. Most older vehicles don't come equipped with adjustable lumbar support in their seats, meaning a considerable amount of strain could be placed on your low back due to lack of low back support.

Being Sedentary

• Being sedentary is debatably the most common cause of generalized low back pain. This applies to driving as well. The reason your body feels better with movement is because movement hydrates your joints, it promotes good blood flow and it keeps your muscles pliable. In other words the human body wants to move, when it is doesn't things get tight, stiff and painful.

What You Can do to Avoid Back Pain While Driving

Take a Good Look at Your Driving Posture

• Ideal driving posture is similar to ideal desk posture. Elbows in a relaxed bent position, your seat leaned back slightly (about 100 degrees), your head in line with your shoulders. 

Increase Support

• Rolling up a sweater or towel and placing it right in the middle of your low back is a simple and easy way to improve support while driving. If you have a newer vehicle which has adjustable lumbar support, play around with it and test our the amount of support you need, it may be more than you think.

Move More

• Whether this means taking a break from driving to move and stretch, or subtle and safe exercises to do while driving such as extending and flexing the low back. Movement is more times than not going to decrease pain over time.

Go to the Chiropractor!

• Going to the chiropractor has shown to drastically decrease back pain. Following proper examination and diagnosing, your chiropractic visit will likely include adjustments of the spine, as well as soft tissue work to the effected tissues which could include modalities such as Dry Needling, Fascial Release, Graston or Traction. 

If you have been suffering from back pain while driving come see the #1 rated Gallatin Valley Chiropractors. We would love to help you out and get you out of pain.

To schedule call us at 406-551-2177 or go online at gallatinvalleychiropractic.com

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). Low back pain fact sheet. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Retrieved July 27, 2022, from https://www.ninds.nih.gov/low-back-pain-fact-sheet