Actor Hrithik Roshan was recently left in pain and unable to even dance while shooting for a music video. The reason? Debilitating back pain — the actor even had trouble walking.
But Hrithik is among thousands of people who suffer from back pain. Recent studies have shown that 9.4 per cent people suffer from back pain, which has caused disabilities at some stage in their career.
The survey was done across 50 countries and back pain was one of the major causes of disability in an otherwise healthy person.
Back corsets will help
Being “back fit” is the most important aspect. The technique refers to the strength and ability of the muscles to stretch, and flexibility of the spinal joints.
A person should identify particular moves or positions which he or she cannot do and avoid those with caution. Dancers, acrobats, sportsmen and other extremely physically active people are advised to wear back corsets during training.
Dr. N. Somasekhar Reddy, senior consultant orthopedic surgeon at Apollo Hospital explains, “It has been found that prolonged rest after any back injury (fractures excluded) is not good. Take a day or two of rest with medication and get the back moving again, within the pain limits. This way one can avoid the back getting stiffer. It has often been found that a stiff back takes more time to treat.”
There are no specific rejuvenation treatments for back pain though. A holistic approach of “can do” and “will do” of both mind and body is found to help. Dr Reddy adds,
“Supervised yoga sessions have shown improvement in patients. It is often seen that a strong but tight muscle is prone to injury. At the same time, stretches have to be within the limits so that there is no further pull of muscles and no injury to the back.”
Work is the biggest culprit
The two most important contributory factors for back pain within the urban population is a sedentary lifestyle and improper posture. Apart from this, work-related back injuries are the number one occupational hazards and one of the most common causes for lower back pain.
Dr Sanjay Tapadia, consultant orthopedic and joint replacement surgeon from Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences says, “The most basic thing a person must take care of is not to curve the back while lifting something from the floor. It is important to always bend your knees and also try and keep your back straight. This is an important aspect and if followed, helps to avoid the issues of back pain.”
At the same time, in some patients the causes of back pain are not clear. There are other risk factors such as obesity, stress, anxiety, depression, old-age and also other occupational hazards like lifting of weights. When these happen, it is important to follow a strict regime of three months of both medication and extensive therapy.
Dr Tapadia adds, “The basic pain lasts for three to four weeks but if it exceeds six weeks then there is a need for further evaluation. Also if the pain is radiating to both legs, till the knees, then there could be symptoms like fever, weight loss, loss of appetite, and morning stiffness with pain in other joints of the body. This could be an indication of underlying illnesses.”
Emotions linked to back injury
Dancers, acrobats and sportsmen need to work on their bodies to keep fit. Proper physical preparations are the key to prevent any long-term back injuries. If there are any structural issues with the spine they need to be taken extra care of it with psychological counseling.
Dr Shashi Kanth, senior orthopedic surgeon at Care Hospitals says: “Besides posture, the daily diet also plays an important role. For highly physically active people, it is important to have a good balance of proteins and carbohydrates in their diets. Starving or a strict diet affects health which leads to decreased bone mass.”
Another overriding factor that has come to light are psychological and emotional factors, which cause some physical changes resulting in back pain.
Pain increases when a person is very anxious or is undergoing much stress. For this reason, doctors are now talking about mind-body coordination while dealing with back pain.
Dr Kanth explains: “A multi-disciplinary approach of treating stress-related back pain includes evaluation of physical, emotional, cognitive and environmental factors. When all these aspects are considered, treatment is found to yield better results.”
