Back pain risk higher during more sedentary pandemic times | Local News Stories
With the covid pandemic sending a large portion of the workforce home to do their work, the risk of people developing lower back pain has never been higher.
Dr. Mandeep Powar is an anesthesiologist and pain management specialist at Havasu Regional Medical Center where she regularly deals with patients who suffer from chronic lower back pain.
Powar is concerned that the new pandemic lifestyle of staying indoors might lead otherwise healthy people to develop acute or even chronic pain. Furniture used in a professional office setting is generally designed with proper ergonomics in mind. Home furniture, however, rarely conforms to those same standards.
“One of the big reasons is that when we are sitting at home most people are slouched in chairs or in bed or on their couch,” Powar said. “We are not sitting in office chairs that are made to be ergonomic so most aren’t sitting properly.”
Sedentary lifestyles encouraged by sheltering in place also contributes to back pain, Powar said.
“We are not going to the gym, we’re not exercising,” Powar said. “So we are not strengthening our core or abdominal muscles. Just that alone has a detrimental effect and exasperates back pain.”
Powar says that any age group can be affected by these harmful habits, not just adults
.“It can happen even to young people,” Powar said. “I saw my daughter when schools were shutdown lying in bed all day doing her work. That is terrible even for kids.”
You don’t need to put yourself through an Olympian workout routine, however, to avoid back pain Powar says.
“You want to stay with conditioning exercises and low impact ones,” Powar said. “Low impact exercises are the best. So not too much weight, in fact body weight is much better. People like to jog, which is great exercise but it tears your joints with time.”
Powar says that with exercising for 30 minutes to an hour every day in combination with making sure you are sitting properly will help prevent back pain from becoming a lifelong reminder of life during the pandemic.
