Research: Back Pain Affects One in Four Employees
If your back aches while on the job, you have plenty of company: New research shows that nearly 40 million American workers suffer from chronic lower back pain.
In all, that’s more than a quarter of the workforce reporting lower back pain severe enough to affect their ability to work. As striking as these findings are, the researchers believe that many more workers suffer from lower back pain than the study captured.
In addition, many workers miss work because of the pain or change jobs because of it.
Both men and women reported suffering from lower back pain, and sufferers were more likely to be 45 to 64. Obesity can also contribute to lower back pain.
The greatest number of workers with lower back pain work in construction, building maintenance and grounds cleaning or in jobs that require lifting, pulling or standing.
One specialist said it’s difficult to determine if someone’s lower back pain is work-related or if you already had back pain and it got worse on the job. “Work environment can worsen back pain, but often it’s difficult to assign causative factors to the back pain in the absence of a specific incident,” said Dr. Qusai Hammouri, an orthopedic surgeon at Staten Island University Hospital in New York City.
For example, it can be difficult to lift a package, whether in the warehouse or at home lifting a baby where the ‘package’ has no handles and squirms.
Workers with back pain should talk with their employers to see if there are things that they can do to make the work healthier, researchers said.
Source: HealthDay News
Physicians Quality Care can teach employees how to lift objects properly and other ways to prevent lower back pain. Give us a call if back pain is a problem at your workplace.
