Back Pain in the Car

Being trapped in traffic can be more than a pain on your bottom: Back problems are a common side effect of long hours on the road. Here are some things below to help you with back pain in the car.

Unlike the sensation you get while slumped over in an office chair, your body feels a lot of different forces in a car, from accelerations, side-to-side swaying, and vibrations, says Alan Hedge, Ph.D., C.P.E. professor of ergonomics at Cornell University.

This vibration of the spine pushes on the discs between your vertebrae—the cushions that act as shock absorbers and allow spinal movement—which can cause mechanical damage to the disks, Hedge says. “There is evidence that the combination of these factors, coupled with the design of the car seat itself, can increase the chance of back problems for some people.

So how does your lumbar region stand a chance if both physical forces and your vehicle's design team up against you? Work with what you do have control over: your car’s comfort features.

Adjust your chair’s back to 100 degrees and the seat bottom 5 degrees upward, advises Douglas Krebs, D.C., a chiropractic orthopedist in Chicago. While 130 degrees is the ideal position for your back, this slightly narrower positioning allows you to rest your neck against the padding and still see the road.

Most cars don’t have enough lumbar support, so it helps to roll up a sweatshirt and place it behind the small of your back. You neck, hips, and back work like cogwheels, so if you turn one part, the others will also move, Krebs says.

If you keep a healthy curve in your lower back to decrease pressure on your lumbar disks, everything else will fall into place,” he says.