One of the most common questions we get is “how much water should I be drinking a day?” As with any medical question, it usually is answered with “it depends”. A hard and fast rule that we tell our valued patients is :
Drink one half of your body weight in ounces each day.
That means if you weigh 120 pounds, you should be drinking, on average, 60 ounces of water per day.
The usual follow up question is “why?”.
Your intervertebral discs are mostly made up of water and its job is to act as shock absorbers for the vertebrae. Without proper hydration, disc degeneration can occur and may cause various back problems.
In addition, see the infographic below for other health benefits of drinking the proper amount of water each day.
(click graphic for a larger view)