My Husband, Who Loves Driving, and His Back Pain

My husband loves driving, but for the past few months, he’s often been saying, “My back hurts.” Apparently, he injured his back after carrying our 5-year-old daughter (18kg) up to the second floor, and since then, his back pain has worsened. That said, doing some stretch pole exercises really helps ease the pain, so it doesn’t seem too severe.

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Around that time, my husband also started saying he would “go to a chiropractic clinic for his back,” and he’s been consciously loosening the muscles around his lower back and hips. When he asked the chiropractor, “I mostly sit at work and do a ridiculous amount of long-distance driving—could that be the cause?” he was told:

“Definitely. Staying in the same position for long periods is the cause. Especially driving, because you don’t brace your feet when operating the accelerator and brake, which is really bad.”

That said, he says he doesn’t really feel the back pain while driving. He must really enjoy driving, haha.

Fortunately, I don’t suffer from back pain, so I said, “But isn’t that just because you’re not getting enough exercise? You drive all the time and don’t walk or work out, so you probably lack muscle strength(I’m totally guilty of this myself, haha).” My husband replied,

“Yeah, that’s true.”

and recently he’s started doing strength training at home.

Also, since he spends most of his workday sitting in front of a computer, he bought a balance ball and now sits on it all day while working.

Sitting on the balance ball all day apparently tires him out because it strengthens his core, but he says, “This is really good!” The only downside is that sitting on the balance ball all day makes him want to go to the bathroom constantly, haha.

So, my husband has been going to the chiropractor, using the stretch pole, and sometimes relying on medication,

and just recently, he even started using a PIP Elekiban magnetic patch!

In my mind, “PIP Elekiban is something people use when the pain is really severe,” so I’m starting to get a bit serious about wanting his back pain to get better.

Back Pain Remedies

I’ve seen blogs online from people who say, “I love driving, but I struggle with back pain,” so I guess there are quite a few car lovers and driving enthusiasts out there dealing with this.

There’s all kinds of information out there, like “Automatic cars cause more back pain because your hips and legs are fixed,” or conversely, “Manual cars put strain on your back because of the awkward clutch operation,” so it’s honestly hard to know which advice is correct and what’s best to try.

There are also many seat cushions designed for people with back pain, but since Porsche seats are already so good, putting a cushion on top feels a bit off…

Speaking of which, a mom I used to know from my daughter’s kindergarten used to drive a manual car every day to drop off and pick up her child. I couldn’t help but say, “It’s amazing you can drive a manual car!” She replied,

“It’s all about getting used to it. I’ve bumped my car 360 degrees before, but after driving every day, you get used to it (laughs). But I did hurt my back from clutching in a manual car… When I went to the chiropractor, they said my bones were misaligned. I guess I was driving in an awkward position for too long. So now I’m going to the chiropractor regularly.”

At that moment, I honestly thought, “I want to be able to drive a manual, but the price is just too high (-_-)…” (LOL).

I wonder if back pain is a common issue for people who drive a lot. If any readers are struggling with back pain or know of good remedies, I’d love it if you could share your thoughts in the comments.