As promised, today’s column is about lordosis, more commonly known as swayback.

Lordosis can create all kinds of lower back pains and spasms, and it can even affect your bladder in certain cases. The spine can have two areas where lordosis can appear. The cervical spine (neck) and the lumbar spine (lower back).

Today, I am addressing lumbar lordosis. So, who gets lordosis? It’s seen more often in kids especially when they go through a growth spurt, people over 50 and it’s seen in some pregnancies. When it didn’t start from birth (congenital), it’s seen more often in people with weak core muscles, weak hip flexors (the muscle that lifts your leg up) and tight hamstrings.

So how do you check if you have lordosis — unusual swayback? When you lie on your back and there is a great space between your lower back and the floor. As I always recommend, have a proper diagnosis by a doctor first because they can guide you through your healing process. Physical therapy comes highly recommended, especially water therapy. Novant PT rents a space out up front at our J.F. Hurley YMCA, and it has been a great collaboration. They have been able to use the pool for their therapy sessions and help the patients establish a routine they need to continue after they are done with their sessions. Many back problems arise because of weak core muscles. Core is the front, the back and the sides of your mid-section. Or, sometimes an imbalance between one side over the other can create back problems, among other issues. Another culprit is tight hamstrings.

You should be able to sit on the floor on your butt bones with your legs straight in front of you. Another way to check is to slide your butt up against the wall and the legs on the wall. If you can’t straighten the legs or can’t even get close to the wall, you have very tight hamstrings. I hear you. Many will say, “I can’t go down to the floor.” Sit on a rigid, stable chair, such as a kitchen chair, and slide to the end without tipping the chair. You won’t be able to extend fully (without tipping the chair) but straighten one leg as much as you can and reach towards or past the foot. If you can’t touch your foot, you have tight hamstrings.

This can be also one of the exercises to practice each day on each leg. Hold for one minute. You can also break this up to 2×30 seconds or 6×10 seconds — whichever one works best for you to do the stretch. Another great and easy exercise to do is to sit at the end the chair and inhale deeply opening up your chest, then breathe out completely, drawing your belly button to your inner spine and round your back. If you can do this on a stability ball, use it. Always remember, safety first. For your hip flexor you can sit or stand and lift your knee up 10 times and switch to the other leg, you can repeat this 3-4 times. This next one is efficient but we are on our back on the floor again. On your back, knees bent with feet on the floor. Inhale and when you exhale push your lower back towards, or on the floor, including bringing your belly button towards the inner spine. Fully exhale, hold if you can and let your back come up again before you do this again for 4-8 times. Your back is so important — they don’t use the phrases “it’s the backbone of our society” or ”she is the backbone of our family” for nothing. When your back goes out, it affects everything you do. The American Association of Neurological Surgeons report that 75 to 85 percent of the Americans will experience some sort of back pain during their life. And in my job as director of healthy living, I see this too. And once again, this can be prevented, fixed or made manageable with movement and exercise. If you have back pain, or suspect you might have lordosis, have a doctor diagnose you and guide you on a plan to heal your back, strengthen your core and get your life back again.

Ester H. Marsh is associate executive director and director of healthy living at J.F. Hurley Family YMCA.