Over the past few decades, employers, individuals, and communities have spent large amounts of time and money in an effort to prevent back pain in working adults. And they have continued to do so without any real proof that what they were doing was working.
In a recent study, researchers from the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at the University of Washington in Seattle took the time to review high-quality studies to see what might be working. This is the first study to step back and take a look at high-quality research studies and report on their findings.
Types of prevention techniques they looked at included patient education, exercise, braces, and orthotics (shoe inserts). Changes in work policies and activity modification (work and recreation) were also included. A final category included ergonomic equipment. This would include anything that helped people reduce the workload or reduce stress on the back.
Things like back supports, shoe inserts, stress management, and back education had no effect on reducing or preventing the incidence of back pain in working adults. Reduced lifting programs had no effect either. In the end, what they found was that exercise was the most effective in preventing low back pain. So, what kind of exercise is best?
It appears that exercise programs of all kinds work well. There seems to be a general benefit to exercise that results in reduced episodes of low back pain and fewer days lost at work when back pain does occur. What’s the explanation for this? It’s not clear yet if there is a simple answer.
There may be ways in which exercise affects the body that go beyond the biology. Maybe people feel more confident after exercising. The results are reflected in their general health including reducing incidents of back pain. Maybe they are less fearful of injury and somehow this lends to lower episodes of such injuries.
It’s possible that combining two or more prevention techniques would have even better results than exercise alone. There’s no proof for this at the present time. So, the best we can say is to encourage all of your employees to participate in sports and activities on a regular basis.
Current recommendations from the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are for a minimum of 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity most (if not all) days of the weeks.
Some employers are providing gym memberships for their employees, providing an on-site area to work out, and/or extending the lunch hour by 30 minutes for those who want to use that time to exercise. Each business employer is encouraged to find creative, low-cost ways to create a corporate culture that promotes physical activity and exercise. The proven results are fewer sick days from back pain with possible increased productivity and lower medical (insurance) costs.