Backache-3

Backache, no doubt is the commonest ailment that the mankind suffers from, but its causes are also the common acts of commission & omission, that we, the humans do in our activities of daily living. Here are some of the tips, if observed, can help us in prevention of backache.

How to work in the house?

House wives are the commonest victims of low backache. This is because of their working conditions. A standing kitchen is always better than the one where one has to squat on the floor to cook or clean the utensils. The washing machine for clothes should be adjusted to such a height that there is no strain on the back of the operator. Similarly ironing of clothes should be done in standing position to avoid strain on back.

Fig:

Backache-2 Know your back: It’s Structure & Functions

Human back is an amazing example of biological engineering. It provides the basic framework on which the skull, Ribs, Pelvis, & shoulder bones are attached. Can we imagine the human shape without backbone? We would have looked like a gunny bag filled with some putty like material & would have had no shape of our own. It would have been impossible to lift or carry any object from one place to another.

When we speak   of back, we usually mean spinal column which is extending from the back of skull to pelvis in a graceful yet extremely strong double S shaped curve. This natural architectural masterpiece of human skeleton consists of 33 blocks of bones called vertebra. They are given different names according to the region of spine they belong to.

In the neck they are called cervical vertebra.

In the upper back (Chest) they are called Dorsal vertebra.

In the lower back they are called Lumbar vertebra.

In the tail bone they are called Coccyx

The vertebrae are hollow structures. The hollow of all vertebrae put together make a long tunnel through which the tail of the brain (spinal cord) runs. The width of spinal canal is almost equal to the thickness of a finger.

Vertebra resembles a house in shape & functions.

As a house protects its residents, so does the vertebra protects the spinal cord.

BACKACHE-1

BACKACHE is the oldest agony that the mankind suffers from. In the prehistoric era, even the angels must have suffered from it. Though in the ancient Indian literature, no direct mention of this disease is made, it can be safely assumed that in the epic period of Mahabharata, Bhishma Pitamaha must have had some backache when he was lying on the bed of thorns.

NOT ALL PATIENTS OF BACKACHE NEED SURGERY. MOST OF THEM CAN BE TREATED WITHOUT OPERATION.

Fig: 1

Whatever be the exact etiology of backache, it is for the medical scientist & the Pundits in the field to determine. Human back is a big Pandora box. Causes for backache are many. They range from a thorn prick in the foot to prolapsed inter-vertebral disc in the spine. Even, a trauma to human pride can cause backache. It will be no exaggeration to compare the backache with an elephant that the six blind men wanted to know about. One of them called it a pillar, other called it a wall, third called it a rope, fourth it a flap of lather, & so on. Similarly many scientists have approached the problem of backache from different angles & have ascribed as many reasons as its causes & suggested remedies for the same; depending on their own concept of human back –its structure & functions.

In last few decades, much scientific work has been done; data compiled & analysed to determine the exact cause of backache. It is estimated that at one point or other in their lives, eight out of every ten people on earth suffer from this universal affliction. It can strike almost every one, the young & the old, male & female, people of all classes 7 & profession. Biggest leaders of the world have suffered from backache. President John F Kennedy spent hours in the soothing comforts of White House rocking chair, only to nurse his backache,

This was his war time injury.

The largest group of people who suffer from this are the young housewives who have small children & are fully occupied at home. They have no outside job. When they have backache, a double burden is imposed on the family. If the person affected is the chief bread earner, then the situation becomes all the more worse.

Backache is not a killing disease, but it certainly cripples the individual for the time being. No one except the victim can truly understand the complete sense of helplessness & despair that overcomes, once an energetic adult who is suddenly struck down by the devastating, usually temporary ailment. The victim’s world quickly shrinks, often limited at the onset to bed or couch. Work & house-hold rituals are totally ignored due to pain. Dressing becomes torturous, a visit to toilet is a major expedition, sitting in chair for reading or eating can be an agony. Sex becomes virtually impossible. Even after the pain subsides, the sufferer wonders, almost at every turn, whether it will strike again.

Beyond the personal grief, back pain exerts a staggering socio economic cost. Million & millions of work days are lost each year because of backache. It is the single largest cause of worker absenteeism in all the countries of the world.

The remedies are simple & effective in most of cases. The most important being ‘not to get tense & nervous’. An objective personal assessment of the disability with a relaxed mind & a wilful relaxation of the whole body coupled with a few pills & postures ( remedial exercises) is perhaps the secret of success in getting rid of this man’s  oldest agony. But in some cases even surgery or psychotherapy may be needed.

In the present series, I have attempted, step by step, how to modify the style of daily living so that this ‘devastating though temporary ailment’ can be prevented.