12 Reasons Why Back Pain Persists

It was a pleasure to have been asked to speak at Barclays House for their well being event. I presented the topic of back pain in the workplace, something so relevant to many organisations that employ office based workers.

Every organisation that employs people and requires them to sit for nearly 40 hours a week to undertake their duties needs to be aware of the risks associated with this. The implications such as staff sickness, reduced productivity and output from your staff and the financial implications can be significant.    

Equally, staff need more education on what they can do to help themselves and reduce the likelihood of being off work due to back pain.

The presentation started with 21 misconceptions of back pain and why pain can persist!

Here I have reduce them down to give you what I believe to be the 12 of the most important. These include:

•      #1 Thinking you will never get back pain

•      # 2 People not understanding the difference between symptoms and causes

•      # 3 Treating only the symptoms

•      # 4 being told medical misconceptions such as ‘I’ve one leg longer than another’ or ‘ my pelvis is out of alignment’

•      # 5 The bouts of pain previously are different and not related to this current episode

•      # 6 Thinking a scan will or has shown me what is wrong

•      # 7 Failing to resolve the issue the first time or not seeking advice early on

•      # 8 Pushing through the pain, ignoring it or not taking them seriously

•      # 9 ‘Googling’ the problem and being a Google Doctor

•      # 10 reluctant to see another therapist due to having poor outcomes with previous interventions

•      # 11 With long standing pains thinking you can only manage your condition

•      # 12 You are in no pain now therefore assume you have a healthy back and will not have any issues in the future

We looked at the 3 main factors that influence and cause back pain in the work place. These include:

1. Desk/ Chair set up which alters spinal posture  

2. Laptops / Mobile phone use and the effect it has on spinal loading

3. How low physical activity levels linked with long periods of sitting are a dangerous two combinations.  

 I provided the key solutions to overcoming back pain. These include:

1. Avoiding aggravating movements / activities when you have back pain

2. Hints and tips on posture. The fundamental technique of finding pelvic neutral in sitting.

3. Addressing the workstation, the importance of desk set up and use of standing stations.

4. Looking at movement patterns that reinforce effective back stability on a day to day basis

5. Giving 12 top tips to getting active and how to start on changing behaviours

6. Practical and evidence based exercises that improve spine mobility and strength.

 You can access the full presentation at:

http://www.slideshare.net/ManojPatel140/top-tips-to-overcome-back-pain-69496727