Recent consumer research has looked at the trends in back and neck pain over the last five years and the British Chiropractic Association (BCA) has released the findings to coincide with BackCare Awareness Week in October. Included in the research was the trend of common triggers for back or neck pain.
If you suffer from back or neck pain you may very well have found that there is a common trigger to your suffering. Our chiropractors at Cliffs Chiropractic often have patients tell them this.
Here are common triggers highlighted in the research.
Sitting for long periods: The number of respondents reporting this as a common trigger rose from 35% to 45% .
The job: A fifth of respondents identified their job as being a key trigger.
Sleeping: This remains a common trigger with 11% more women reporting it as a trigger than men.
Sports and exercise: Has made it into the list of top triggers, ousting housework and DIY.
It’s interesting to see that most of these triggers involve activities that we all do every day. Maybe this is why back and neck pain are relatively common conditions! However, with a few simple changes to our daily routines we can protect ourselves from the most common triggers. Here are our chiropractors top tips to protecting your back and neck:
Stand up and move around: Take a break from sitting every 30 minutes and stand up and move around. Take it as an opportunity do some simple stretches too.
Set up your desk and PC for a good sitting posture: Setting up your office chair to ensure you maintain a good posture is essential. Arif has created a video and information with easy to follow steps to avoid back, neck and muscle problems at your office desk. Here is a link to the Sitting Posture page.
Sleeping: Ensure your bed/mattress is providing you with adequate support. Here is a link to a post on how to choose a mattress that you may find useful.
Keep active: Whilst sports and exercise has been cited as a common trigger in the research, our chiropractors can’t stress enough how important keeping active and taking regular exercise is to maintain a healthy back. Many sports injuries are a result of a person not taking time to build up the intensity of exercise, not warning up and cooling some sufficiently and poor technique. If you are unsure of the type of exercise that’s right for you seek professional advice.
The consumer research also revealed that the number of people experiencing back or neck pain on a weekly basis rose from 40% to 45% and 65% of people experience back or neck pain every month.
Our chiropractors recommend that if you are experiencing back or neck pain for more than a few days you should seek professional help. Official government guidelines from the NICE and guidelines from the Royal College of General Practitioners suggest the early referral for manipulative treatment, such as chiropractic is the most effective way of dealing with acute and chronic low back pain.
If you, or someone you know, are suffering from back or neck pain our experienced team of chiropractors at Cliffs Chiropractic Clinic in Southend are here to help you.