Back Pain at Work, Sitting

Air Conditioning Is Bad For Your Back Pain

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air con affects back painIn the last post I talked about ergonomic chairs that support the lumbar spine  in the right place, but even some ergonomic chairs, still fail to keep the back warm, because they have a mesh becking. This allows cold air from air conditioning vents to pass through.

While this is great when you first arrive at work, after you have been running up the stairs, it is not ideal after two hours of sitting down, when workers’ body temperature has considerably dropped. No-one thinks to turn the air conditioning down or increase the air temperature after an hour or so, and this too can save people’s backs.

People who are prone to back pain should not be sat near or in the path of air vents, as this can worsen their condition. It is an invisible threat and so often goes unnoticed, even by the sufferers themselves. For the people who are always hot, and insist on the air-con being ramped up to full power (“cranked up to 11” as Spinal  Tap – scuse the pun – would say!), those individuals should have an additional small fan in their faces (it’s usually their faces that need the breeze most).

Here’s another silly thing that a lot of employers do that costs them more money. They have the air con on full all day, but it’s set to room temperature. You can achieve the same results  if you have the air con on low and set to room temperature. It just takes longer initially!

Turning it up to full power is only needed for a short amount of time to change the temperature quickly.

So tell your employer you know a cool way (sorry, I’m all puns today) that they can save money on electricity AND on sick days from people with bad backs, simply by having the air con on low!

Image by Kenkwsiu on Flickr

 

Back Pain at Work, Best Exercise, Sitting

Top 10 Ways To Prevent Back Pain When Sitting

Top 10 back pain tips when sittingSome employers are waking up to the fact that their employees need to be kept comfortable while working, in order to reduce the number of sickness days due to chronic pain; most notably Back Pain.

The Oman Observer reports that staff at Omantel are being asked “Are You Sitting Comfortably?” as part of a new campaign to reduce the number of back pain incidents and promote better posture so that they look after their backs and stay healthy.
The Omantel Human Resources Unit know that encouraging people to sit properly with the correct posture was vital in acheiving better health and safety standards at work.

Employees are also being given individual questionnaires that help them judge if their backs are healthy and give them practical advice on what to do to make sure their backs stay pain free and injury free. See the full story Here.

More companies need to follow suit. It’s fine to provide them with ergonomic chairs, but many people don’t sit correctly in them, or make the biggest mistake of all; they stay in the same position for too long.

It’s essential to change position regularly, and to stretch and exercise while sitting down for long periods of time. You can achieve this by doing the following exercises; all of which can be done while sitting:

  • Shoulder rolls
  • Shoulders up (for two seconds at a time)
  • Head rolls
  • Arm Stretches
  • Elbow rolls (similar to the funky chicken, but circular)
  • Buttock clenches
  • Thigh clenches
  • Back stretch (arms back, arch the back and face the ceiling – ONLY for a few seconds)
  • Hand stretches (spread the finger out, together with regular making of fists – NO punching people!!)
  • Abdominal clenches  (while rolling your back forward for a few seconds – chin on chest)

posture at workDo these every 20 minutes if possible. No fewer than every 60 minutes. You might want to TELL people beforehand, so they understand what you are doing! In fact why not do a presentation on this for everyone to use?

Some companies don’t even supply their staff with ergonomic chairs, which is a FALSE economy, when they end up losing their staff to back problems.

My personal favorite ergonomic chair is the Kinnarps PLUS 6000 series, and it MUST have arm rests. See one Here. They come in hundreds of different colors and fabrics. And they’re very solid and durable. I have had mine since 2003 and it’s still going strong.

But the best advice to reduce back pain when sitting is to move about when on your breaks. So many people just continue to sit at their desks and look at their emails, or browse the internet. Get up and go for a walk, even if only for five minutes, and it will make all the difference to your back.

 

 

 

Alternative Therapy

Does Acupuncture Work For Your Back Pain?

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acupuncture for back painMy ex neighbor had acupuncture every two weeks for over ten years, and claimed it relieved her arthritis right up until her death at age 77.

I peronally tried acupuncture myself about 12 years ago, and although it was relaxing and didn’t hurt at all, it did not relieve my back pain. I thought I had given it a good chance to work, by going three times, but I can’t say it made a difference.

But everyone is different and many thousands of people swear by it. I can certainly understand the option to want to heal yourself naturally, rather than use medication.

The needles used release endorphins, the body’s own pain killers, and how many of these endorphins are released will vary from person to person.

Another elderly lady who recommends acupuncture is 80 year old Texan, Roberta Land, who has been showcased at TylerPaper.com. See Coshandra Dillard’s article; Acupuncture: Precise Points, Body Balance for more information.

Photo by ~ggvic~

Heavy Lifting

Heavy Lifting Can Be Painless!

I found this video about a product, the “Leanlever” that takes all the weight when carrying heavy loads upstairs. All the other products that claim to make lifting easier only stop the user from falling down the stairs; they don’t really take the weight of the load. This is the only one like it as far as I know. It looks like a great product that could save a lot of manual laborors’ backs.

If you’re in a hurry, he doesn’t start using the device until after 1:16. He’s demonstrating how difficult it is without it up until then!

Sitting

Prevent Back Pain When Driving

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back pain drivingLong car journeys can play havoc with your back, especially when you suffer from chronic pain.

The American Chiropractic Association has made some suggestions on how to relieve back pain while driving your car:

  • Adjust your seat so that you are comfortably sitting close to the wheel, with your knees slightly higher than your hips.
  • Use a Lumber Support Cushion or the BackFriend on your car seat.
  • Take regular breaks to stretch and rest
  • Stretch your shoulders, legs and toes regularly as you drive.
  • Keep hands on the steering wheel at the 3:00 and 7:00 positions, occasionally alternating to the 10:00 and 2:00 positions. (3 and 7? Really? They’re not even symmetrical!)
  • Have a relaxed grip on the steering wheel, and occasionally tighten, then loosen your grip to vary your muscle movement.

When I first passed my driving test, I was such a nervous driver, I would have my shoulders up near my ears the whole time before I realized, and my back and neck were in constant pain. When I made a conscious effort to relax my shoulders, everything else relaxed too and I was in a lot less pain. And I think, a better driver as a result!