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Your spine is one of the most important parts of your body. Most believe that the backbones main job is carrying you when you walk and what supports your body. However, it's most demanding job is to protect part of the central nervous system (spinal cord and nerves exiting the spinal column) from the everyday day stresses in life. Taking good care of it is a lifelong project and should be treated with extreme care so it'll last forever. Waiting for signs and symptoms to the wrong idea and the spine should be monitored and cared for very early in life. Here are some instructions for making sure your spine has as good a life as you do!



  1. 1
    Have your spine thoroughly evaluated by a medical doctor so that you know how well aligned the spine is and if there is any damage from previous injuries.
  2. 2
    Maintain good posture. No matter where you are or what you're doing, be sure to keep good posture. Keep your back, neck, and head properly aligned.
  3. 3
    Lie down correctly when you're sleeping. Be sure to have a pillow with the proper elevation for your preferred position. Bending your neck upwards all night with too tall a pillow can harm your neck. If you are lying on your back, put that too tall pillow under your feet/knees to raise your leg: if you sleep on your side, place a pillow between your legs or the weight of the top leg can misalign your hips. Only sleep on your stomach when advised by your own physician. Remember, it's important to have a mattress in good condition (pillow, too)!
  4. 4
    Try to keep your arms and legs straight to promote good circulation and relaxation and health.
  5. 5
    Get someone to help you stretch your back muscles by gently pushing on both sides of your backbone and bottom and legs at the same time.
  6. 6
    Take care of your bones. Be sure to take in the required amount of calcium. Some good sources of calcium are dairy products (cheese, milk, and yogurt.)
  7. 7
    Exercise. Doing exercises that stretch and balance your body can be very beneficial. An example would be yoga. Muscle-building exercises are great, too! More muscle means more protection for your backbone, and the muscle is strong enough to hold your spine in place correctly.
  8. 8
    Get a back, shoulder, and/or neck massage. Massaging places near your back can help align it properly.
  9. 9
    See your doctor for a scoliosis screening. An over curved spine is a serious problem. If you are an adolescent and have this condition, they may first have you wear a back brace, and if it progresses to a serious degree, you may be offered spine surgery.
  10. 10
    To walk straight and tall it helps to hold your arms parallel to your ears, walking like this helps if you have a slouch, practice this,to hold yourself erect against gravity.
  11. 11
    You can raise both arms behind your head and move your arms up and down to help adjust the top of your neck and push your whole backbone forward while still raising your arms with elbows straight up.
  12. 12
    You could lie down on your side and move your top leg forward and move your head backwards.
  13. 13
    You can stretch your back by spreading your legs while standing up and trying to touch your left foot with your right hand while pulling on the muscle and bouncing up and down and then do the same thing with your left hand to your right foot.
  14. 14
    You could adjust your lower neck by putting one hand behind your head and one hand on your jaw and focusing the pressure backwards from your jaw to your lower neck and you could do same thing to your upper neck on both sides.
  15. 15
    You can use a TENS unit on sore muscles in your neck, back, shoulders, butt, legs.
  16. 16
    You can adjust your back especially between the top of the shoulder blades by twisting your neck and putting pressure on both sides of your backbone until it gets loose and then you can adjust your upper back.
  17. 17
    You can put your hands on both sides of a doorway and push on the doorway and move hands in different positions and push on the doorway again.
  18. 18
    You can also stretch your neck by moving it around until its tight and then gently pulling on the muscle a few times.

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  • A big part of having good posture is being aware of your posture. Try to train yourself to be aware of your posture at all times, but especially during times when you might be tempted to slouch (such as when you're sitting at the computer).
  • Perform daily exercises to improve posture. For example, stand straight up with your shoulders and back against the wall for a short period of time.
  • Maintain good posture and sleeping position.
  • Understand your posture so you will be able to improve. If you don't know what you are doing wrong, walk into the bathroom casually and look at your shoulders, back, and spine to see any signs of slumping.
  • Improve muscle, flexibility, and balance.
  • Get a scoliosis screening.


  • While it might be tempting to use a posture corrective brace, don't be too quick to go that route as wearing it may lead to weakened back muscles. Obviously, if your doctor prescribes a brace, that's a different matter.
  • Don't slouch.
  • Avoid injury.

Article Info

Categories: Back and Joint Care

In other languages:

Français: redresser votre colonne vertébrale, Italiano: Raddrizzare la Colonna Vertebrale, Español: enderezar la columna, Deutsch: Die Wirbelsäule gerade richten, Português: Corrigir sua Coluna, Русский: выпрямить позвоночник

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