As many as 70% of people have reported low back pain in their lives. This is especially true with the 9 to 5 workers who sometimes had to work more than eight hours to finish their assigned tasks. It was also one of my complaints in my office many years ago. I thought that my lower back pain was the result of excessive sedentary experience during the performance of my job.
There were times that we extended our work hours to accommodate more paperwork and to finish them within the deadline. With this scenario, I had to sit for a prolonged period of time with almost no change of posture. I was most of the time sitting on a regular office chair that was not yet made ergonomically. As such, I suffered a lot after office hours with chronic pain in the lower back part of my body.
Based on a book (published by the Institute of Medicine, National Research Council, Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, Panel on Musculoskeletal Disorders and the Workplace) it was indicated that there were “70 million physician office visits in the United States annually" and "conservative estimates of the economic burden as measured by compensation costs lost wages, and lost productivity, are between $45 and $54 billion annually."
This goes to show that low back pain is not as simple as we think it is. Surprisingly, some people have taken for granted the more adverse effects it may lead to when it is left untreated for a long time, and we just rely on painkillers or pain relievers that some company clinic physicians give to complaining workers to ease the pain momentarily.
According to the same source, it was concluded that "there is a clear relationship between back disorders and physical load, that is, manual material handling, load moment, frequent bending and twisting, heavy physical work, and whole-body vibration."
Moreover, " work-related psychosocial factors recognized by the panel to be associated with low back disorders include rapid work pace, monotonous work, low job satisfaction, decision latitude and job stress." ((hhtp://www.nap.edu/catalog/10032 html)).
Risk Factors of Musculoskeletal Disorders (example: low back pain)
- Aging
- Gender
- Body mass index
- Psychosocial factors
Acknowledging these facts may find us realizing that work-related activities really contribute to the occurrence of low back pain which is one among the musculoskeletal disorders that many employees complain about in the workplace.
Obviously, aging is one factor that has something to do with low back pain. Now I realize why my co-workers and I, who were retires at that time, suffered immensely from this chronic pain. We were already aging after more than 20 years of performing our job painstakingly.
The brighter side of it is that we can alleviate this nagging lower back pain at home, naturally. I for one do not always believe that I should always go to the doctor to get a pain reliever prescription when I do something on my own to relieve my pain or possibly eliminate it totally. There are some suggestions to that which may be appealing to you such as:
- Apply some herbal oils on the affected area when pain occurs. ( I used oil with the mixture of ginger.
- Do some physical activities to flex your muscles. Moving around is an effective way of relieving the pain by shifting and focusing on other things rather than on the pain you feel in your lower back
- Sit up or stand up straight all the time. Good posture corrects our awkward movements or positions when doing an activity or a task.
- Maintain your ideal weight according to your height. It is already proved by scientific studies that being overweight or obese has something to do or causes lower back pain.
- Stretching exercises are good enough to make your muscles stronger that help support your back
- Stop smoking and other vices to keep your body stronger and healthy reducing the risk of possible body pains
- Do regular exercises that would strengthen your core muscles. In doing so, strong muscles can support the lower back part of your body
- Get some rest after doing lengthy bending activities or exercises
- Protect your back while lifting, for example, lifting your heavy groceries bags from the car
- Have an ergonomic chair for comfortable sitting and reduced lower back pain
Providing yourself an ergonomic chair can do so much to reduce your lower back pain because ergonomically designed chairs are created to support the natural shape of the human spine. Therefore, it includes your lower back while you move about and do your activities. It was designed also to reduce stress on the pelvic area and the spine itself.
As such, a highly recommendable ergonomic chair is from Flexispot. This wonderful chair is called Sit2Go 2-in-1 Fitness Chair. The name implies that you can do two things at the same time for physical fitness with cycling while you do a certain task at a certain time. As we know, exercising is one of the best natural ways to reduce lower back pain so that performing your work will be more efficient and productive.
This awesome chair is also economical because it is packed with wonderful features that are worth your penny and more. As it is ergonomic, it is the most comfortable chair you will ever have because it has a breathable mesh backrest that feels cool and a supportive seat cushion.
What is more exciting is that it has a height-adjustable seat wherein you can change the user’s height while seated with a one-touch lever. In other words, your family with different heights can also use this wonderful ergonomic fitness chair.
For your physical fitness support, this bike chair has a calorie tracker and customizable cardio. The smooth-rolling pedals are easy to use and rolling casters run smoothly whenever you want to move this fitness chair to another room or space in your home to exercise and to work on your daily tasks. Isn’t it stunning? Learn more about this product or other products on the website.
