People who suffer from lower back pain often find it aggravated by driving, or some people who drive a lot find themselves experiencing lower back pain.
Either way, there are a few things to be aware of regarding your posture in the car that will help both scenarios reduce their lower back pain and improve their driving experience.
- You need to maintain your lumbar curve in your car seat.
Your lumbar curve is there to help reduce the loading on your spine. When you slouch, you increase the pressure on your spinal discs and increase your risk of developing a spinal disc problem that may result in lower back pain. The backrest of your chair is specially shaped to help maintain your curve. To gain the benefit of your backrest, ensure that your buttocks are positioned right back against the backrest and that you are leaning backwards into it.
2. In order to sit properly while you drive and maintain your lumbar curve, you need to position your legs at the correct distance from the pedals to prevent tight hamstrings on stretch from flattening your lumbar curve (read my post on tight hamstrings and lower back pain).
Your hamstrings attach to the bottom of your pelvis and go on stretch when you straighten your knee. If you have tight hamstrings, when you straighten your knees to reach/press down on your car pedals, the stretch in your hamstrings will result in your pelvis being rotated backwards and your lumbar curve flattening, increasing the pressure on your spinal discs and increasing your risk of developing lower back pain.
In order to determine the correct distance of your car seat to the pedals, place one hand in your lower back and feel the curve of your lower spine, then move your seat forwards and back until you can comfortably reach the pedals while still maintaining your lower/lumbar spinal curve.
3. Incline your car seat’s backrest to -8 degrees to reduce the loading on your lumbar spine and reduce spinal fatigue.
There is more loading on your spine when your backrest is upright than when it is reclined backwards. You instinctively know this, and when you are tired from sitting upright for too long, you will intuitively move your buttocks forwards on the chair seat and lean backwards to take the strain off your spine. Thus, positioning your car seat too upright will cause fatigue of your back and increase your risk of developing lower back pain if you are driving for long periods of time.
4. Elevate/lower your chair so that your hips are 90 degrees or less. If your hip angle is too sharp, this will also increase your risk of slouching in your chair, which in turn will lead to increase pressure on your spinal discs and increase your risk of developing lower back pain. If your seat does not allow you to sit high enough, help yourself by sitting on a small cushion.
5. Move the steering wheel up/down/forwards and back until you find a comfortable distance from yourself to the steering wheel. Your elbows should be slightly bent. This will prevent your shoulders from fatiguing, which when it occurs, will also increase your spinal loading and spinal fatigue when driving and increase your risk of developing lower back pain or aggravating your current pain.
6. Stretch your hamstrings (read my post on how to stretch your hamstrings if you have lower back pain) if they are tight to help yourself maintain good spinal posture when you drive.