Are You Drinking Enough Water?
Learn how Dehydration may be the cause of your lingering back pain..
Water makes up around two thirds of who we are, and is required for every single process in our body – which probably explains why we feel a lot better when we drink enough of it.
You may have thought you have tried everything to help with your back pain– but have you ever heard of drinking more water to help with that?
My guess is you haven’t!
I get that it might sound ‘too simple’ to make a difference, but dehydration really can be one of the culprits of back pain, and one of the reasons why it stays around for longer than it needs to.
Let me explain…
You probably know… water affects every organ and cell in your body, and you have probably had your doctor tell you need to drink more water…
…but has anyone told you how it also plays an enormous role in the health of your back and spine.
In between each bone of the spine (the vertebrae) lies a disc – these disc are primarily made up of water. During the day when we’re standing up, the weight of our body squeezes the water out of these sponge-like shock absorbers. The disc slowly loose water and become dehydrated. Then at night when we’re laying down, they rehydrate themselves again.
This is normal and happens in all of us on a daily bases. However the problem comes when there isn’t enough water in your body to rehydrate the disc when we are resting.
When the disc becomes dehydrated and stays dehydrated is can lead to or aggravate our back pain.
See why dinking plenty of water is so important now?
We all know it is! Just many of us did not know that without enough water, back pain can creep up, and stay around for longer.
So next lets take a look at a few things so you can start living a life with less back pain:
- Signs that you’re not drinking enough water – so you can start drinking more of it!
- What you can expect when you start drinking more water.
And…
- Helpful tips to help you increase your intake!
Lets dive in:
Signs That You’re Not Drinking
Enough Water
How do you really know?
Well the most obvious is feeling thirsty, but here’s some not so obvious signs: (in fact most experts say you are already significantly dehydrated by the time you feel thirsty.)
- Feeling tired
- Dizziness
- Dry skin and lips
- Headaches
- Constipation
- Mood swings
- And… joint pain
Obviously there are more but these are the most common.
One more way to check if you are dehydrated is the color of your urine. If your urine is clear then you are probably drinking enough water. If your urine is dark yellow you defiantly not drinking enough.
What You Can Expect When You Start Drinking More Water…
You already know that water is great for you, but after a few weeks of drinking more of it, what benefits can you expect to see?
Less soreness in your back for one
You’ll feel ‘healthier’, your eyes may not feel as tired, and you’ll feel more alert!
Additionally water can help you lose weight (if that’s something you’d like to achieve), your skin will look clearer and you’ll have a natural glow!
You’ll likely even find you don’t need to reach for the coffee 4 times a day because you feel much more alert.
How Can You Increase Your
Water Intake?
Besides using a bigger glass to down your water with, here’s some other tips that might work better for you. I’ll start with my favorite – drinking a glass of water right after waking up.
Before I go to bed I make sure to place a glass of water on my bedside table, that way, when I wake up in the morning, the first thing I see is a glass of water right next to me.
It’s a great feeling knowing that I’ve already consumed almost 15% of my daily water intake before my day has even started. Give it a go, after a week or two it’ll be a new habit and you’ll feel more energetic for it.
Another way you can increase how much you drink is to switch it up.
I get it, water can get boring, but it doesn’t have to be.
You can always add lemon, cucumber or other fruits to your water/ Experiment with it and try to find something that suits you.
And my final tip… Don’t wait until you are thirsty to starting drinking. Thirst is the first sign of dehydration and if you are recovering from an injury or have back pain you don’t want to even be the least dehydrated.
So there you have it, why you need to drink more water to help ease aches and pains, did you have any idea that water played such a huge role in your joint health? Don’t let another day go by of being dehydrated – now you have simple tips to help you drink more water each day.
If you are suffering from back pain and you are already drinking enough water or want to get to the bottom of your back pain faster, we would love to answer any of your questions.
Call to schedule a FREE phone consultation with me or one of our expert back pain specialists. 512-730-0231
