Spring Cleaning: The Importance of Pacing with Back Pain

All of us have done it before: the lovely weather sets in and we completely overdo it with our Spring cleaning in a matter of days. Before long, we’re laid out on the couch with back pain that lasts for days if not weeks. It’s only human to want to maximize the sunshine after a long Winter, but hopefully we can give you some guidance about how to get the most out of your Spring without causing a pain flare-up.

First off, you’re not alone in your struggle with back pain. In fact, back pain is consistently among the costliest health problems among developed nations, but the guidelines for those of us with chronic or recurring back pain suggest that remaining physically active even with this pain is the best approach (Hocheim et al., 2021). According to an evidence-based Back Skills Training (BeST) Program developed in England to help individuals suffering with complex back pain, one of the most fundamental aspects of pain management is pacing. Pacing refers to the practice of adjusting our activity level to either build on the level that we’re currently at or to ensure that we limit over-activity (BeST, 2022).

  Pacing requires diligence: we aim complete the same level of activity each day (not too little and not too much) whether we feel good or bad. On a good day, we stick to the same amount of activity to avoid overdoing it and ultimately paying for it. On a bad day, we aim to complete the same amount of activity in order to reduce stiffness, but break it up with more rest if needed. The trick is to stick to the predetermined amount of activity which we refer to as our “baseline” so that we hopefully spend fewer days in pain. This shift puts us in control of our pain rather than feeling like we’re at the mercy of our flare-ups as it makes us more accountable for the actions we take to actively manage our pain.  Like any aspect of self-care, pacing is much easier said than done, but the good news is, the BeST program has created a formula that we can apply to set a baseline and hopefully reduce the occurrence of pain flare-ups.

BeST Baseline Setting Guidelines: 

-       Day 1: Think about how much you feel you will be able to do. Try this amount. Write down how many times you did the exercise or for how long you did it.

-       Day 2: Think back on how Day 1 went. Change the amount if you need to- add a little more if it was too easy, if it was difficult, do a little less. Write down how much you did.

-       Day 3: Think back on how Day 2 went. Change the amount if necessary. See what you can do. Write down how much you did.

-       Add together the amount you did on Days 1-3 and then divide by 3 to get your average.

-       Set your baseline at slightly less than your average so that you are less likely to overdo it and then stick to it as best you can whether it’s a good or bad day!

If we apply this logic to our gardening or Spring cleaning, we would track the time we spend in the garden or cleaning over 3 days and how we felt afterward, adjusting accordingly over those days. We would then take the average time over those three days and reduce it slightly to get our baseline. If our average time is about 20 minutes, we might start at 16 or 17 minutes per day to reduce the risk of a pain flare-up.

  The take-away message is to listen to your body! You know your body best and with a bit of diligence, hopefully your body will be more cooperative in completing all of your Springtime tasks with less pain. If you’d like a hand prepping for Spring cleaning or gardening, please e-mail us or give us a call at 289.407.1938 to book into one of our strengthening classes or a private session to make a plan that suits you!

References: 

https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/back-skills-training-programme

https://bmchealthservres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12913-021-07337-9