One Answer To Creep
The answer to creep is very simple:  in a word, Extension.   Extension is simply leaning backward.  Think how often you do this throughout a day.  Not very often.  We have to make a pointed effort to remember to stretch our backs into extension. Prolonged extension also causes disk creep, but the direction of the creep is anterior or toward the front, away from the nerve roots located in the posterior section. To prevent a back problem, whenever you are sitting or bent forward for any time, remember to stand up and lean backwards for 15 to 20 seconds to reverse the creep.  If you have a disk related back problem, then you will want to perform the extension exercises every day at least twice in the morning and evening.  The exercise is simple.  Lay on the carpeted floor on your stomach.  Gently extend your low back as you come up on your elbows.  This position should feel good.  If you feel increased pain, you are either extending too far or this exercise is not right for you. A deeper extension can be done by straightening your arms, but this is not usually necessary.  A simpler way to extend the back is in the standing position.  Place hand on hips and push hips forward as you lean backward.  Extension can also be done in your full size bath tub or Jacuzzi tub.  Place your feet at the far front end of the tub with knees up and feet flat on the bottom.  If tub is near full, your head will now be nearly in the water and your but will be about mid center. Now, arch your back into extension. As you do this, place both hands folded into fists behind you into the small of your back, pushing up and forward to further increase the extension.  Now at the same time, raise and lower your pelvis, rotating your pelvis forward for maximum extension. This should really feel good or at least not uncomfortable. Do only the extension that feels comfortable.  You can now do pelvic side to side movement as well as rotational movement.  Another really effective way to achieve extension is with an exercise ball.  Laying on your back over the ball and rocking back and forth as well as doing rotational pelvic movement produces mobilization of those back joints which will go a long way to keeping you out of our office.  Extension weighted exercises also work wonderfully well using a piece of equipment like the Nautilus Back Machine, which we have in our office.   Always start an exercise program very slowly doing only one exercise at a time making sure you are very comfortable doing it and that you do it for a very short time.  It is easy to overdo it and have increased pain from exercise over done.  Patients who over do it, hurt and are fearful of trying it again.  So go slowly.  With the extension exercise pictured below, to begin, 15 seconds is the amount of time to stay in this position, then rest for 5 to 10 seconds and repeat, doing a total of 5 repetitions twice a day.

Two Good Exercises for Back Stabilization
One of the most frustrating aspects of having a back problem is that once its taken care of and you think your life has returned to normal, it returns again and again and again.  Is there anything that can be done in the long term to put an end to this aggravation.  The answer depends on a number of things, including your job, your hobbies, and the condition of your spine.  Your job may predispose you to repeat back injury, as might your hobbies.  And if you have degenerative disk disease or a history of protruding disk or herniated disks then you may be limited in how well you can reign in your back problem.   But regardless of your state, you can slow the frequency of occurrence and the severity of occurrence by taking some active steps to stabilize your lower back. The two exercises I will describe for you are described in even greater detail along with other good exercises in a book entitled, Spinal Stabilization, the New Science of Back Pain, by Rick Jemmett, B.SC., (PT).  Both are called isometric exercises.  The advantage of isometric exercises is that you can do them anywhere and no one will see or know...in your car...at a boring meeting...even at the workplace.  Because you don't need a gym or your bedroom to stretch out on the floor, there is far greater potential for compliance.  In other words, you will do these exercise because it is both very convenient and very beneficial.  Think of the little boy trying to impress his mother by showing her his big biceps muscle in his arm.   That's isometrics.  
The Kegel Exercise:  Surprise!  Some of you mothers already know this one.  It's easy right.  Pretend you are urinating when an important call comes in and you must stop the stream.  All the muscles in the pelvic floor are tightened.  Now hold those muscles tight for a slow count to 15.  That's the first of two.  
The Pull Back Exercise:  The next one is no more difficult.  Pretend you are on all fours.  Let your abdomen sink toward the floor.  Now pull back your abdomen and try to touch your back bone.  Hold for 15 seconds and that's the Pull Back.  
Now, Put the two together.   Now try putting the two together at the same time.  Not too hard. But you're not quite finished.  You need to be able to do both at the same time and breathe normally.  This is the most difficult part of the exercise, but you can do it with practice.  Contract for 15 seconds. Relax for 10 seconds. Keep the cycle going whenever you are in the car, in a meeting or anywhere you happen to be. But don't just practice it, put it to work for you.  You put it to work for you whenever you bend forward to lift or to do any other form of back exercise.  This strengthening process is like building your own back support right into your body.  Muscles support bones and joints and strong muscles support a whole lot better than weak ones.  If you are having repeat episodes of back pain, your pelvic and back muscles may be deconditioned (weak)....too weak to support your job duties or hobbies.   If your serious about stabilizing your back, following through with these two exercises is a good beginning, but there is a lot more you can do.

Posture
Now that you understand about the impact of "Creep" on the lower back, you can easily apply the same concept to all your joints and better understand how it affects the wrist in carpal tunnel disease, or the neck when you wake up in the morning with a stiff neck.  The impact of posture is very great.  When I was a boy, I had a teacher who was always on my case for slouching at my desk.  I was young and supple and I could sit like that for hours and it didin't bother me.  But now that I'm much older, I understand her caution.  What you seek to accomplish with posture is joint neurtral.  In other words, you do not want to keep any joint for very long out of the neurtral position.  All joints can flex and extend like the knee, fingers and toes.   Some can also rotate and side flex.  The body gladly assumes all these permitted joint postures, but do not keep them in those positions for extended times or you may suffer the consequences. Reading laying on your stomach, holding your head in extension is a good example of neck abuse.  Of course, sitting in a slouch position watching two back to back football games is a more common example of back abuse. Picking beans in the garden or strawberries, where you bend the back with knees locked straight is a common source of lumbar spine insult.  Buy a vinyl covered 1" foam pad and kneel down to do your picking and you will save yourself many pain episodes. Joints were designed to move, not to hold static positions. Driving all day with the head fixed is yet another common source of neck abuse.  Remember to move those static parts, even if they seem to be in a neutral position.
       Nocturnal Posture.  As important as posture is through the day, it is even more important at night.  During the day we do tend to move frequently, so that holding static positions for  long period of time is not too common.  Not so at night, especially when we are exhausted from a long, hard day. We can fall asleep nearly comatose and the normal signals of discomfort that we would normally react to and change position, don't reach us and we wake up in distress.  What's the answer?  Proper pillows for the neck and knees go a long ways. Stay off your stomach when you sleep.  No pillow will save you on your stomach because you must rotate your head in order to breathe.  Rotation is a non-neutral position and will eventually wear your joint facets causing pre-mature arthtitis.  Sleep on either your back or side.  Use an orthopedic style pillow contoured to support your neck. If you are broad shouldered, you may have to  use a 2nd pillow under the orthopedic pillow to keep your head from drooping toward the mattress.  Again, it is important that the head be neutral.  A pillow between the knees help keeps your back and  hip joints neutral and removes strain from the lateral back and  hip muscles. When you turn onto your back, shift the pillow under the knees to relieve the tight hamstring muscles.  At first, you will lose the pillow, but with perseverance, you will train your body to automatically shift the pillow in your sleep when making positional changes.

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