If you’re an older adult or heading in that direction, chances are at some point, you will experience back pain. Estimates are that 70% of adults suffer from back pain, which is considered the leading cause of disability and tends to reach its height during your later years. In particular, lower back pain, which can be caused by innumerable factors, can significantly interfere with your day-to-day activities and be challenging to resolve no matter which treatments you seek out. For a good overview of back biology, back pain causes, diagnoses, and possible treatment options, carefully take a seat and look here.

Part of the challenge of treating back pain is that the usually prescribed options- including and especially surgery- tend not to be successful and may, in fact, leave you in a worse position (pun intended). Back in 2017, journalist Cathryn Jakobson Ramin, herself a back pain sufferer, published a book entitled Crooked: Outwitting the Back Pain Industry and Getting On The Road To Recovery. It’s a topic she investigated for 6 years to get to the bottom of why so many suffer and what can actually help. She recently sat down to record a podcast for Kaiser Health News’s An Arm and a Leg. Find out the results of her drilling down on the soft science of back pain, and her eventual discovery of what can help, by listening here.

One other expert to turn to is Dr. Stuart McGill, Professor Emeritus of Biomechanics at the University of Waterloo, and author of the best-selling book Back Mechanic. His step-by-step, evidence-based guide is intended to help you determine the causes of back pain and exercises and strategies for relief. His exercise philosophy mirrors his own personal practice of adjusting routines to fit your aging body and changing daily tasks. He’s also got a website, BackFitPro.com that provides resources, advice, and products designed to get you beyond whatever back pain you’re experiencing.

And one other piece of advice? New research out of Florida Atlantic University confirms what many of us already know: Movement philosophies combining mind and body routines, including yoga and tai chi, can be effective weapons in your fight against back pain. So suit yourself up and read more here.