Occupational Health, Fitness and Wellbeing Newsletter

Newsletter                                                      NOVEMBER 2011

 

 

MANAGING BACK PAIN AT WORK

 

Andy signed up for the back pain diagnostic service. This meant going to the Global Back Care website and sending me some photos of himself in various postures. He's not in bad shape actually, strong, close to his ideal weight and trains regularly at the gym.

His back started hurting after he started a sit down job five years ago.

He's a bit tight in calf, hamstring and buttock muscles, more so on the right side than the left. He's now got the exercises and I think the prognosis is good.

In view of the fact that he said sitting down might be contributing to the problem I penned this article and sent him a copy.

Here are seven secrets for sitting down painlessly that will provide you with low back pain relief.


First secret: sit up straight

Your abdomen must be pressing in to the desk and the back of the chair upright and pressing in up under your shoulder blades. You're locked in, sitting up straight, hollow in lumbar spine.

 

 

You don't need a thousand dollar chair to get yourself sitting up straight. It's not the chair but the way you sit in it that counts. It's the same old story, bad workmen are still blaming their tools!

 

Second secret: spend time each day standing up
 Spend some time each day standing up. Put a box on your desk big enough to fit your keyboard and your mouse.
 


 Third secret: Get yourself a Balans Chair.

 

Spend some time each day sitting on the Balans chair. The reason these chairs work to provide low back pain relief is because they eliminate the effect that tight hamstrings and buttock muscles have in stopping you from sitting up straight - with an 'S" shaped curve in your spine.

'They' say not to spend all your time on it as it may impact on your knees. Some of the day is good - as it sitting with stomach against desk and standing up.

 Fourth secret: spend time each day sitting on the floor
 Sit on the floor with legs straight out - particularly if all you're doing is reading.

 

Every now and then push your bottom in closer to the wall. It's an essential hamstring loosener-offer. People might think you're weird, but you're not. You're looking after your body and protecting yourself from lower back, neck and shoulder pain.

 

If you reside in the corner office, they'll really think you're weird but what you're doing is setting a good example to your workforce.
 

 

 

Secret five: do a few back relief exercises at lunch time


Do supine groin stretch for 10 minutes each side, and four minute's worth of hip crossovers at lunch time.

 

 

Secret six: Loosen off buttock muscles.

Put one leg under and the other leg over and prop yourself up against a wall.

 

Every now and then push your bottom in closer to the wall. This is an essential buttock stretch exercise. If you're a man with a crook back, it's highly likely that your buttock muscles are tight, one more so than the other, and preventing you from sitting up straight with an 'S;' shaped curve of your spine.

 

You can do some of your reading in this position.

 


 Secret seven: Don't even think of forgetting to do your situps and pressups.
Build up your situps and pressups to 40, on the trot. Situps are a general front of body exercise designed to strengthen muscles designed to support your skeleton in good alignment. Pressups not only strengthen arms and shoulders but also your trunk muscles, front, back and core. Plus, do Superman and cobra for a minute a day.

 

                  

 

That's not too high a price to pay to relieve back pain is it?

In the meantime stay tuned, highly tuned and start doing the things that will contribute to a pain free life. Don't blame the chair for what you're not doing for yourself!

 

Regards and best wishes


 John Miller

Click on the cover to purchase the complete suite of Fix Back Pain ebooks.