At the workplace:
The kind of jobs women do in the workplace also contributes a great deal to the
increased incidence of back pain amongst them. Women are generally given tasks that
involve:
- Repetitive tasks such as pushing, pulling or twisting of the body in jobs such as
those performed by supermarket check out staff, production line workers,
cleaners and machinists - Sitting or standing for long periods. Women are more likely to get back pain if
they work in the health services, retailing, hotel and catering, banking, finance
and insurance industries. Shop and factory floor workers, keyboard and
telephone/call centre workers and bank tellers who stand or sit for long periods
are especially prone to get back pain - Lifting, bending, stretching and reaching in jobs such as child and social care
workers, nurses, teachers of small children and counter staff. Nurses are
particularly prone to back pain as they are often called to lift patients from the
bed or chair.
Summary
OK, so now you know why mechanical causes of back pain that lead on to muscle spasm
and strain are responsible for over 90% of back pain in the world. Each and every
activity of our daily lives abnormally stresses the spinal muscles and ligaments and
places the body in an uncomfortable position for long periods of time. We sit for hours
together and think that we are relaxing when, in actual fact, we are stressing out our
back muscles. We do not sit, stand, bend, twist or lift weights properly. We overeat, put
on excess weight and do not exercise. Small wonder then that back pain is the
commonest ailment worldwide.