Blame Internet for back pain
Are you suffering from chronic back pain? Well, Internet is to be blamed, particularly if you are middle-aged, says a new study.
Researchers in Britain have carried out the study and found that a large number of middle-aged women spend most time on social networking sites, like Facebook, Twitter, and suffer from chronic back pain due to hours hunched over computers.
The findings are, in fact, based on a poll of 1,000 women, aged between 35 and 50, in Britain.
The study revealed three in four women -- 78 per cent -- are in agony because they spend too long sitting at a desk at work or on the net. Of those nearly one in five -- 18 per cent -- endures backache every day.
A third admitted they were in pain every few days and nearly a quarter between once a week and once a month. And almost half -- 44 per cent -- could not walk easily. A smaller number -- 15 per cent – could not go out socially or work.
"Back pain can be intense and make life difficult for sufferers, with discomfort badly affecting their home, work and social lives," the 'Daily Express' quoted physiotherapist Sammy Margo as saying
Preventing back pain before it happens is so much more satisfying than recovering after it has affected your life. Curbing the problem before it ever becomes a chronic health issue is important and scientific literature from many different sources have consistently shown that there is only one way to prevent back pain before it happens.
- Exercise is the only intervention that consistently worked well as a preventive strategy. If you've been a subscriber to this blog for any time at all, then you know that a large majority of our blog posts point to exercise as the least invasive method to prevent back pain and promote overall health.
- Education does not work. No matter how much someone reads or understands the causes and risks of back pain, it's not a true preventative measure to stop back pain. The best example is to point out that doctors, who are very well educated about back pain, suffer from back pain just as frequently as patients.
- Lumbar supports (or back braces) do not work. Back injuries account for 20% of all injuries and illnesses in the workplace and cost the nation an estimated 20 to 50 billion dollars a year. Unfortunately many companies rely on back braces or lumbar supports to replace an ergonomic program for their employees. Please read our blog on the use of back braces to prevent injury.
- There are few studies that have shown ergonomic intervention to be a significant source of low back pain prevention. Setting up your desk or work area in a more ergonomically correct manner is a great thing to do, in fact we've discussed it many times before, but overall it is not proven to provide conclusive back pain prevention.
ZeroSpinePain.com
