How to Protect Your Lower Back When Lifting

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Jun 18, 2025 - 10:11 Updated: Jun 17, 2025 - 15:12
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How to Protect Your Lower Back When Lifting
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Lower back pain is often triggered by everyday habits that stress the spine, such as poor posture during sleep and incorrect movement patterns while performing daily activities.
Lower back pain usually arises from a combination of contributing factors, such as muscle strain, herniated discs, and fractures. In some cases, conditions like pancreatitis, infections, or tumors may also contribute to lower back pain, Dr. Lin Kuan-Yu, a rehabilitation specialist at National Taiwan University Biomedical Hospital, said in an interview on the NTDTV program, She’s Health.

Among the patterns he observes most frequently in clinical practice, Lin notes that improper body mechanics—such as bending at the waist when lifting—can significantly contribute to strain and injury.

He emphasized the importance of learning proper posture and adopting preventative care techniques to prevent recurring lower back injury and pain.

Lin advises against bending over at the waist while standing to lift things. The more the spine bends forward, the greater the pressure on the lumbar vertebrae, making it easy to strain the back.

5 Steps for Correct Posture While Lifting

Lin shared how to ensure a correct posture while lifting objects.
  1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart: This position keeps your center of gravity stable and makes it easier to exert force.
  2. Squat down: Bend your knees and hips to lower your body into a squatting position.
  3. Inhale deeply: Take a deep breath to engage your core and support your abdomen.
  4. Lift the object: Grip the object securely with both hands and push upward by extending your knees and hips, relying on your leg strength—your strongest muscles—instead of your back.
  5. Set down safely: When placing the object, squat again and lower it carefully, avoiding a sudden drop.

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Lin Kuan-Yu demonstrates how to correctly bend to pick up an object to prevent back injury. Courtesy of Lin Kuan-Yu
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Low Back Support

If your job involves frequent heavy lifting, Lin recommends using a back brace. The brace should fit snugly and provide noticeable support, especially when leaning backward. It’s best to try the brace before purchasing—test it by lifting a heavy object to determine whether it offers adequate support. If lifting feels easier with the brace than without, it’s likely doing its job.
For those with lower back pain, especially when traveling and lifting luggage, wearing a back or knee brace is advisable.

Choose the Right Pillow and Mattress

Aside from daytime activity-related strain, many patients report worsened back pain after sleep. “Sleeping well is more important than taking medicine,” Lin said.

Lin suggests the following when purchasing the best type of pillow and mattress.

Pillow: When lying flat on your back, your neck should be in a relaxed, tension-free position. The pillow should fill the gap between your head and the mattress as much as possible, leaving no empty space.

The recommended pillow height for back sleepers is 2 to 2.4 inches for men and 1 to 1.5 inches for women.

Side sleeping requires a higher pillow than back sleeping. Lin advises choosing a pillow based primarily on back sleeping and trying to sleep in that position as much as possible, since it distributes back tension more evenly—unless a spinal condition makes back sleeping painful and side sleeping is necessary.

Mattress: Follow the same relaxation principle of completely relaxing your back and neck when lying down. Softer mattresses are typically better for people with smaller builds and more pronounced spinal curves. Those who are taller or have old back injuries or spinal conditions may benefit more from firmer mattresses.

Pain Relief Patches

For lower back pain not caused by trauma, such as an accident, pain relief patches may offer initial relief, especially for muscle strain or tightness, Lin said. Available in cooling, warming, and both Western and Chinese medicinal varieties, patches can be effective if they don’t trigger allergic reactions or worsen symptoms the next day.

However, Lin warns against using patches over open wounds—particularly for diabetic patients with reduced sensation—as this can increase the risk of infection.

If pain persists after two to three days or up to a week, it’s important to consult a doctor to rule out more serious underlying conditions.

Treatment for Lower Back Pain

If lower back pain persists over time without improvement, it’s best to seek medical treatment. Initial treatment typically includes oral medications such as muscle relaxants and anti-inflammatory pain relievers, which are effective for acute lower back pain.

Common physical therapies include heat therapy and electrical stimulation. Microwave therapy may also be used for deeper muscle pain.

If the source of pain is more complex—such as small bone spurs, vertebral misalignment, or inflammation of the facet joints—ultrasound-guided injections can be used to deliver medication directly to the affected area of the lumbar spine. In more severe cases, such as vertebral fractures or significant slippage, surgical intervention by an orthopedic or general surgeon may be required.

Exercise to Strengthen Muscles and Relieve Lower Back Pain

Some people may think that injections can quickly relieve pain, making rehabilitation or exercise unnecessary. However, Lin explains that if we categorize people into three groups—injured, normal, and strong—the injured need rest, rehabilitation, electrotherapy, and oral medications to return to a normal state. Then, through exercise, normal people can become strong, which helps prevent them from slipping back into an injured state.
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Research published in the Journal of Physiotherapy in April reviewed 42 chronic non-specific lower back pain trials. The study found that exercise led to an average pain reduction of nearly 10 points on a 100-point scale compared to no exercise, and that pain relief was more pronounced in those who exercised regularly.
Leading medical institutions such as the American College of Physicians and the UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence have incorporated exercise therapy into their official treatment guidelines for lower back pain.
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