Back to basics: why back awareness is a health essential
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Do you ever suffer from back pain?
With almost half of us experiencing it at some point, it's quite likely that if you're lucky enough not to, you'll know someone who does. Which is why National charity BackCare aims to provide information and support for sufferers, as well as funding research that will hopefully 'reduce the impact of back pain on society'.
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The charity's back pain awareness raising event – Back Care Awareness week – takes place this year starting Monday 17th October, and this time round the charity's theme is back pain in schoolchildren and their teachers. To tackle this, the charity is calling for changes in health and safety laws and training courses to help schools learn more about best practice for back health. And with 88% of primary school teachers reporting back pain, it's definitely an area of pressing need.
The issue of back pain isn't of course confined to schools. While the parents among us will be interested in the charity's view that badly-designed chairs and heavy bags are damaging young people's backs, there's also the fact that back pain caused 4.9 million adult sick days in the space of a year.
Three ways to keep back pain at bay
At work – Make sure your monitor is directly in front of you at arm's length, keep your shoulders relaxed with your elbows level with the space bar, and make sure you can use your mouse without stretching, with your elbow comfortably bent.
At the gym – UCLA research found that those who exercise regularly were a third less likely to suffer back pain. But be careful of back specific exercises: the same study found that those who concentrated on these actually suffered an increase in pain.
While driving – It's all too easy to tense up on a long car journey. Angle your rear-view mirror just a bit higher than usual to make sure you need to maintain good posture to see in it. Also remember to keep your shoulders relaxed.
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