What have you been able to positively identify as a back pain trigger? For myself when I was younger and doing heavy manual labor pushing a grocery cart at the super market was one of the worst. Another bad one is the safety back brace some companies required us to wear. Beanbag chairs were a real crippler. I still am not able to select a mattress that won’t cause back pain, it seem like dumb luck trial and error is my best selector.
Sitting too long in one place, and, worse, sitting slightly hunched over. Watching too much tv, sitting too long at the computer, watching a movie at a theater, long-distance driving.
Probably, though, everyone is different, and what causes one guy to spasm in agony might actually be therapeutic for the next guy!
Completely flat shoes will do it to me, especially ballet shoes or skimmers. So will tripping over something unexpectedly, including dropping off a curb.
Brushing my teeth.
Seriously, I’ll be bending over the sink to spit and when I attempt to straighten up – EEEOOWWWW!!!
(OK, so maybe it’s spitting after brushing my teeth. Maybe I should just swallow.)
Lack of exercise. I work in a cubicle and have couch potato tendencies, and if I don’t exercise I start waking up mornings with lower back pain. If I go the the gym and basically do anything whatsoever, the pain stays away.
For me, weird chairs- bar stools, picnic tables, plastic yard chairs, etc. Lots of other things too but those for sure.
Dehydration. I’ve been living in a tropical climate for three years now and still cannot manage to keep myself properly hydrated.
Sitting too long without a coccyx cushion, and without getting up (even if just for 30 seconds) every hour or so.
When I was younger in college a backpack would do it. I wouldn’t have chronic back pain, but every few months my back would totally go out and I’d be disabled on the floor for a day. Once I left college and stopped carrying a backpack that problem went away.
Poor fitting shoes also. It is a struggle sometimes, you buy a pair of shoes and all they do is transfer all the shock into your knees or back.