Is Desk Job Taking A Toll On Your Back? Exercises To Improve Your Spine Health – An Orthopedic Surgeon sheds light on the common spinal conditions affecting people today, as well as their causes, prevention, and remedies.
Many of you might be in a job that requires sitting for long hours in front of the system, which can affect the spine and neck. The damage is likely more when you slouch or slump while working. People working from home tend to be in poor posture, sitting on the sofa or lying down on the bed. These habits make the spine prone to further degeneration. Growing evidence suggests that people with desk jobs are at increased risk of spine-related problems, cervical spondylosis, neck pain, and Back Pain. Besides poor posture, overindulgence in mobile phones and many of our daily habits are taking a toll on our spinal health.
In an exclusive interaction with TheHealthSite, Dr. Subodh Shetty, Consultant Orthopedic Surgeon, Apollo Spectra Hospital, Bangalore, shed light on the common spinal conditions affecting people today, as well as their causes, prevention and remedies.
Table of Contents
Common spinal conditions people face today
Spinal problems affecting people range from children to adolescents, middle age to old age. Let me narrate a few of the commonest ones. The commonest problem, people read out to the spine doctor is Acute Lumbosacral sprain or Acute Cervical Sprain.
Next, a more grave problem is a slipped disc or herniated disc either in the neck or lower back. Here the shock absorber-like soft cushioning present in between our vertebral bones gets damaged or degenerated resulting in slippage of the disc. When in the neck, it can result in upper limb problems, and when in the lower back it can result in lower limb problems.
In children, we often see Hunchback resulting from a condition called Scoliosis and it is seen in the adolescent age group, particularly in girls.
In the group beyond middle age, if the spine starts degenerating fast resulting in lumbar spondylitis or cervical spondylitis and causes spinal spondylitis, which causes spinal canal stenosis and weakness of limbs.
In people predisposed to genetic predisposition for the inflammatory condition due to immunological reaction, the patient develops severe stiffness in the spine, a condition often associated with is called Ankylosing Spondylitis.
In the elderly, above 60 years often we see women, developing acute severe pain in the spine and it’s because of osteoporosis where the spinal column becomes weak due to a lack of bone materials like calcium and depletion of protein.
Let’s understand spondylolisthesis
In the spine, when a bone slips one over the other, the condition is called spondylolisthesis and it can result in severe back pain and difficulty in walking due to neurogenic claudication.
Occasionally, we come across a condition, where the Disc extrudes out by sudden spasm resulting in Cauda Equina Syndrome, and can have grave complications of bloating bowel and bladder function.
In our society, infection spreading to the spine can cause the vertebral bone and disc to get eroded and destructed resulting in spondylodiscitis and pus formation over the spinal cord landing to paralysis of limbs. Here, Tuberculosis or other bacterial infection is commonly identified.
The present health and lifestyle changes with malignancy of different parts of the body can spread o the spine as well resulting in secondary cancer. Primary cancerous condition or tumors of the spine often affects the spinal cord resulting in meningioma or multiple myeloma-like conditions.
Daily habits that could be harmful to your spine
Lifestyle-related habits which often cause spine problems are many. Nowadays, we see overindulgence in mobile phones watching materials on the phone continuously and nonstop has been the cause of neck and back pain. So, mobiles have made our spines immobile.
In people working on desktops, the posture they attain without following ergonomic rules has impacted spine function to a large extent often people working from home, take up an irrational working pattern like sitting on a sofa, or lying down in a bed makes the spine prone to further degeneration.
In the case of people traveling daily to and from the workplace, on two-wheelers or four-wheelers, the brunt of traveling on bad roads is taken up by the spine structures where often the disc prolapse happen while crossing on pothole with a jerk or a bump.
Most important is smoking results in spine disc degeneration at many areas of the spine and it is proved beyond doubt spine degeneration starts early in life in smokers.
Of course, not exercising and developing obesity makes the spine prone for damage and one should follow a diet rich in calcium and should be balanced to maintain spine health. Not getting exposed to sunlight results in Vit D deficiency, also a cause of weak back.
Signs and Symptoms that indicate something is wrong in the spine
One of the most common symptoms we come across in our daily practice is neck pain or back pain and it could be sudden or graduate. This is commonly due to Acute Sprain and lack of neck and lower muscle tear. If not attended to and rectified, eventually the spine bones start to show clear and tear and the degenerated spine or spondylitis spine makes the area chronically painful.
When degeneration worsens in the spine, the area in the spinal cord comes down, putting pressure on the spinal nerves and spinal cord resulting in weakness.
Simple exercises to keep your spine healthy
Spine region, whether neck or back, can remain healthy by maintaining the flexibility of the neck and lower back muscles.
On a daily basis, stretching of the neck and lower back muscles is to be done, even at odd times or during working times, or after your work. Stretch your neck in all directions to the extreme level. In the case of the lower back, lie down and lift your legs and hold for a few counts.
Effective strengthening of the neck and back can be done by using resistance on your own or with the help of physical trainers.
Simple plank exercises help to strengthen the spine muscles in a big way.
Yoga is a good option to improve spinal posture and spinal balancing. Deep breathing exercises help improve the strength of the body as well as strengthen the chief part of the spine.
Child’s pose, Cat pose, Cobra pose, Cow pose, Simple Seated Twist, Marichyasana, Standing Side Bend, Triangle pose, Upward Salute Pose, and Downward Facing Dog Pose are some yoga poses you can try for a Spine Health. Also Read | Is CNN Presenter Bianca Nobilo Married? Husband, Partner, Illness, Family & More
