TODAY reports on the findings of a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), which revealed in 2016 Americans spent approximately $134.5 billion on low back and neck pain, making it the condition that generated the highest expenditures.

HSS primary sports medicine physician Jordan D. Metzl, MD, who was not involved in the study, spoke with TODAY and shared a routine that can prevent or reduce back and neck pain. "The vast majority of neck and back pain comes from what we call muscular pain, and the things that we can do to help that include things such as making your muscles stronger (and) making your muscles more flexible,” explained Dr. Metzl.

Dr. Metzl suggested doing a simple plan (to strengthen the core muscles and the muscles in the front and back of the spine); using a foam roller (to help loosen up the muscles around the lower back); the “walk it out” exercise (to work on spinal mobilization to get the bones in the spine moving); and finishing with a flexibility-building exercise called the “cactus stretch”.

Read the article at Today.com.