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Your Body Behind the Wheel

Given the recent pandemic restrictions and the limited availability of flights, summer vacation plans may need to be focused around places that can best accessed by car. Alberta is a beautiful and expansive province making driving necessary to get where we need to be. Whether it be a long drive for pleasure or for your daily commute to work and back, driving is a fact of life for most.

Some choose to make driving their career such as long-distance truck drivers, bus, taxi or delivery drivers. With that much time spent sitting in the same position, back pain can be an unfortunate side effect of living on the open road.

What causes back pain when I drive?

When driving for long periods, back pain can be triggered by a number of factors:

• your lumbar curve is all but lost which then places extra strain on the vertebrae and discs

• your spine absorbs all of the bumps or quick turns you make

• by driving with your seat reclined or lowered, the legs tend to be straighter which puts strain on the hamstrings. This results in a pulling of the pelvic attachments and the pelvis rolling backwards causing the spine to pitch posteriorly. The rest of the spine is then forced to curve forward to compensate.

• your neck is also forced to flex your neck by up to 20 degrees in order to look straight ahead when the seat is reclined or lowered seat

How can I ease my back pain while driving?

There are a number of ways to help ease your pain:

• Using a lumbar support in the car – This is a specially designed cushion for your lower back that can be purchased or it can be as easy as using an old couch pillow or a rolled up towel.

• Moving your seat forward – Be as close as you can to the steering wheel, without it being uncomfortable. This is the optimal driving distance to prevent back pain. This allows you to avoid slouching and strain in reaching the pedals.

• Adjust your hands on the steering wheel – Driver instructors are well-known for telling their students to “keep those hands at 10 and 2”. This isn’t necessarily the best position to place our hands in when trying to alleviate back pain. Since the invention of airbags, research has found that your hands should be at 9 o’clock and 3 o’clock. This position allows you to rest your elbows on the armrests, which can help ease pain, especially in the upper back.

• Stretching – Stretching before hopping in the car is a great way to prevent driving related pains. For those long trips, plan to get out and stretch every half-hour or so will alleviate some of your pain.

When in doubt, you can always see Dr Vollrath if you are still unsure about how to prevent and alleviate back pain. Dr Vollrath is an expert in the diagnosis and treatment of conditions of the musculoskeletal system (the body’s bones, muscles, cartilage, tendons, joints and connective tissue). Dr. Vollrath will first assess your back’s current condition and then develop a treatment plan for you to help ease your pain.

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