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Back Pain – The Nation's Number 1 Ailment
Back pain is arguably one of the most widespread ailments of modern Western society. According to research by the Swiss League Against Rheumatism, 8 out of 10 people will suffer from back pain at least once in their lives [4]. The 2014 health statistics show a similar trend: 35-45% of the Swiss population suffered from back or lower back pain at least once within a four-week period [1]. Back pain is therefore one of the most common complaints in Swiss society.
Causes of Back Pain
The cause of back pain rarely has a pathological background. More specifically, 85% of all back pain is classified as non-specific. This means that there is no clear structural injury causing the pain, and it is more likely due to muscular tension or fascial issues [4]. The main cause of this is a lack of exercise, being overweight, repetitive movement patterns, but also frequent lifting and carrying, and poor posture can lead to muscular tension. Furthermore, psychological phenomena such as stress, depression, or feeling overwhelmed at work or in daily life, as well as stressful emotional conflicts, can also trigger back problems [5].
The remaining 15% of all back issues have a specific cause, such as spinal stenosis or a herniated disc. In rarer cases, inflammation of the internal organs or a rheumatological disease, as well as vertebral fractures or metabolic diseases, can also trigger back pain [4].
Financial Consequences
Back problems are not only annoying because of the pain, but they also lead to high healthcare costs in Switzerland. In 2018, an interdisciplinary research team calculated the cost of illness for the Swiss population from non-communicable diseases for the first time. They found that musculoskeletal diseases, with back pain accounting for a large portion of this, rank second among the most expensive ailments at 8.7 billion Swiss francs per year [2]. Furthermore, the 2011 Back Report by the Swiss League Against Rheumatism shows that out of a thousand Swiss people surveyed, almost a third miss work or school at least once a year due to back pain. The majority are absent for one to six days, and for 2.5% the absence lasts for months [3].
What to do for back pain?
The type of therapy depends on the duration of the back pain. For acute pain, such as lumbago, osteopathy and physiotherapy can help. In osteopathy, manual techniques such as mobilization and manipulation are used to restore the biomechanics of the spine. Through a holistic examination, other problem areas of the body can also be found and treated, which have a secondary influence on the back and can trigger pain there. Physiotherapy treats acute muscle tension with fascial and myofascial release techniques (fascia techniques, trigger point therapy, dry needling, etc.). For long-lasting, so-called chronic back pain, the focus of physiotherapy is on guidance and introduction to active training with exercises and working on self-management.
Being active yourself is not only a possible "therapy" for chronic complaints, but also an optimal way to prevent back pain. Exercise improves posture due to muscle building, provides stability and mobility, and thus improves body function [4]. To help you get active and make changes yourself with minimal effort, we present below two short exercise programs with exercises for the workplace and exercises for at home, which take up very little time and can be performed anywhere: The exercises were compiled by students from the School of Health Sciences in Fribourg as part of a campaign against back pain. The graphics were illustrated by Joakim Monnier.
Exercises for the Workplace
1. Shrug your shoulders and drop them, 5x
2. Sitting down, bend your upper body over your legs and breathe deeply into the stretch of your lower back, 3x
3. Sitting down, place one hand on your stomach, bring the other arm over your head to the opposite side without lifting your buttocks off the chair. 3x each side
4. Sitting down, cross your arms over your shoulders. Lean back with a straight back until you can feel tension in your abdominal muscles. 10x
5. Sitting down with bent arms, draw circles in the air with your hands and shoulder blades, staying in the frontal plane. 5x
6. Standing up, place your hands on the table/chair and bring your entire back into a horizontal position. If necessary, bend your legs. 1x
7. One foot on the chair, the other stepped forward. Keep your back straight and push your hips forward. 3x per side.
Exercises for Home
1. Forearm plank, keeping your back straight. Hold for 45 seconds.
2. Side plank on your elbow. Shoulder is directly above the elbow. Hold for 30 seconds per side.
3. All fours position. Alternately round and arch your back. 8x
4. All fours position. Rest your buttocks on your feet. Stay for 30 seconds.
5. All fours position. Lower your sternum towards the floor. Stay for 30 seconds.
6. Lying on your stomach, rest your forehead on your hands. Lift your upper body off the floor.
7. Lying on your side with bent knees. Rotate your upper body to the other side while keeping your hips straight. 3x
We are also happy to provide the respective .pdf files with the exercises for download (Exercises for the workplace | Exercises for home), so that you always have them ready to use in the office during lunch or coffee breaks, or at home... If you have any questions, feel free to contact the physiotherapists or osteopaths at BodyLab. They will be happy to help you.
If you need us, we are always here for you!
Your BodyLab Team, by your side for acute and chronic back pain
Osteopathy and Physiotherapy | Rehabilitation and Training
Zurich Altstetten
References
Health Section, Federal Statistical Office (FSO), Neuchâtel, 2014, Corrected version of December 2016, ISBN 978-3-303-14212-7
[2] Switzerland pays a high price for non-communicable diseases
Carola A. Hubera, Simon Wieser
Swiss Medical Forum, 2018;99(33):1054–1056
[3] Back Report Switzerland – The Survey on Back Health of the Swiss Population
Gerfin A. et al.
Swiss League Against Rheumatism, 2011
[4] Swiss League Against Rheumatism
[5] Infomedizin – Written & reviewed by doctors
The exercises were compiled by students of the School of Health Sciences in Fribourg on the occasion of a campaign against back pain. The graphics were illustrated by Joakim Monnier. With kind thanks for permission to use.
Title Image Credit
https://pixabay.com/es/service/terms/, Back pain, CC0 1.0
