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Have you recently changed your computer or living room setup for watching TV? Does your desk chair, or the couch where you watch TV, give solid support to your lower back? If you catch yourself slouching or craning forward — any position that puts strain or pressure on your lower back — this is a habit you can correct.

It may seem obvious, but one possibility that many of us overlook is simply to rearrange our living and work spaces so that we are less inclined to overextend our back, shoulder, and neck muscles in the course of our day. This could mean relocating your desk furniture, particularly computer equipment that is located in an awkward, out of the way location (such as a printer that you have to stretch way under the desk to turn on). Next, how about your habits with getting in and out of the car? As one example, many of us contort our bodies into unnatural positions when we reach through the door when we lift bags, such as groceries, out of the car.

By increasing your body awareness, you can often pinpoint the source of stress that is bringing you lower back muscle pain.

One time-tested solution is to go for a walk. It takes just twenty minutes, three days a week, to reduce or eliminate many cases of lower back pain. Find some comfortable shoes that provide you with good support, and start walking!

Your doctor can refer you to a physical therapist if you need help with reducing or eliminating lower back muscle pain. These specialists are trained to help you identify any bad movement or postural habits, and work with you to correct or eliminate them. But before you spend a lot of time (and maybe money) on a specialist, track your own movements for a while. You can even track your time at the computer, the TV, on the cell phone, and so forth, to see what patterns this reveals.

Keep in mind that our bodies are not designed for many of the modern activities we subject it to. In simpler times, with less specialized jobs, humans tended to vary their activities greatly throughout the day. Activities tended to be shorter in duration and more varied with the amount of exertion effort required. So this meant that your heart pumped at more varied rates, which let you get a bit of exercise, and then take a rest before going onto the next task.

Changing old habits is seldom easy, but once you begin to view back pain, or simply your fear of it, as a chance to improve your quality of life, you can.