Here’s a rather worrying claim for you to ponder – according to the NHS, almost half of adults in the UK may be living with some kind of chronic pain; this means they’re not seeking help for it, or having to manage it with lifestyle changes.
That’s a lot of people struggling on a daily basis.
A study by BMJ sought to prove this with numbers, and found that it is actually 43% of adults. That means just below 28 million adults, with statistics taken from 2013. The chances are that those numbers are higher now.
Within that chronic pain bracket is one extremely common type – lumbago.
Lumbago is the fancy medical term of lower back pain, one of the most frequently experienced types of pain within the office environment. Most of the time it is caused by not sitting correctly on office chairs, having a poor posture in general, and also by not lifting items correctly. We’re lucky that we now have office furniture which is designed to support lower backs. For instance, even the arm rests on an office chair are designed to reduce the amount of pressure placed on the lower back. Ergonomic chairs look to support every single part of the back whilst sat in place for a long period of time too, and these are extremely popular items to incorporate into furniture design for office use.
Other than the type of furniture you use at work, what else can you do to overcome the lower back pain you might be experiencing? The good news is that it’s unlikely to be a long-term pain issue, provided you address it early on. There are many exercises and stretches you can do, which are specifically targeted for the lower back; in fact, we found this very useful infographic by Health of Back which outlines a very easy ones you might like to try.
These exercises are designed to strengthen the muscles and ligaments within the back, and therefore help to add support to the area you need it the most. They will also help you to stretch, helping blood flow and sending nutrients around the area. If you can utilise exercises such as these, and make sure that you use the functions on your ergonomic chair correctly, you should be able to make great leaps forwards, towards recovery from your troublesome lumbago.
Moving around regularly will also help you to feel better during the working day, and will reduce the amount of stress and pressure put onto the lower back area. For example, getting up from your mesh office chair on occasion and perhaps going to the coffee machine, walking to the printer, and certainly heading out for a walk on your lunch out, will help to avoid extra pain.
Sitting correctly and lifting items correctly are the two main points to bear in mind. Always lift items with your knees bent and your back straight – never bend over and lift something! This is a number one route towards lower back pain and injury. In addition, make sure you know how to sit correctly at your luxury office furniture chair, and don’t slouch or allow yourself to develop other bad habits.
Being mindful of how you’re sitting, being careful when lifting items, and making sure that you move around on a regular basis is the best way to overcome lower back pain, and also to prevent it from occurring in the first place.
Of course, if you are struggling with pain and self-help methods don’t seem to be working, then it’s a good idea to have a check up with your doctor and find out if you have actually suffered an injury in the back, or whether you need medications to help you get over the issue. We’re all different, and one size doesn’t fit all. All managers should also be supportive to employees who are suffering from lower back pain and make sure that their office environment is conductive to a pain-free working experience.