Time and activity linked to back pain
risk
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[February 11, 2015]
By Andrew M. Seaman
Factors that can trigger pain in the lower
back include working in awkward positions, being distracted, and being
physically or mentally tired, a new study shows.
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“Back pain is a major public health concern,” said Manuela Ferreira
of The George Institute for Global Health at The University of
Sydney, Australia, one of the study’s authors. “It’s among the
leading causes of disability around the world.”
Ferreira and her colleagues interviewed nearly 1,000 people who
developed sudden lower back pain in 2011 and 2012, asking whether
they'd been exposed to any of 12 possible triggers in the two hours
before their pain started.
Overall, people were most likely to have sudden lower back pain in
the morning.
Manual tasks involving awkward positions were tied to an eight-fold
increase in risk for lower back pain, the researchers found. Manual
tasks involving objects away from the body, animals or people, and
unstable objects increased the risk of back pain between five and
six times.
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Being distracted during a task or activity increased the risk of
sudden lower back pain by 25 percent, they found. Being physically
or mentally tired increased the risk about four times.
Alcohol consumption and sex were not tied to an increased risk of
sudden lower back pain, however.
The new study can’t explain why certain things greatly increased the
risk of back pain while others did not.
There are some theories, however. For example, people may be at
higher risk of back pain in the morning because they may not be
fully alert yet. Or, Ferreira said, the disks in the spine might be
more susceptible to damage in the morning.
She said people who are used to lifting heavy objects probably know
how to do it safely, but people should ask for guidance from doctors
or physical therapists if they’re unsure.
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"Back pain will affect about 10 percent of the world’s population at
some point in their lives," Ferreira and her colleagues wrote
February 9 online in Arthritis Care and Research.
“Although we have many studies looking at the interventions for back
pain, we don’t have a lot of knowledge about prevention,” Ferreira
said.
“People who are not involved with these activities on a daily basis,
they should pay attention to how they’re lifting,” she advised.
“Even brief exposures to those activities can lead to back pain.”
Also, she said, it helps to be physically and mentally strong, with
a healthy diet and regular exercise.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1DYn8Br
Arthr Care Res 2015.
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