Participants of the ‘Discover Recovery from Back & Knee Pain’ health talk learn more about maintaining spine health.
MIRI: Back pain is one of the most common causes of disability that occurs to people aged 45 years and above.
According to TAGS Miri chiropractor Dr Surendiran Rajkumar, about 60 to 80 per cent of human population will experience lower back pain at some time in their lives due to varied reasons.
“Each year, some 15 to 20 percent of new patients to experience back pain need to seek advice from specialist, hence it is very important that one should not ignore or neglect the health of your spine,” Dr Surendiran said at a clinic on ‘Discover Recovery from Back & Knee Pain’ yesterday.
The cause of back pain, he added, was usually contributed by several reasons including lifting something too heavy, twisting body too sharply without warming up first, standing on your feet for long periods of time and poor posture.
“Being named as the fattest nation in South East Asia, Malaysians who have overweight problem should also worry about back pain as most of the time, being overweight or obesity, they lacked physical movement and also faces mental stress,” he said.
Often, he added, back pain is caused by straining a muscle or stretching a ligament.
“About one percent of low back pain is serious, whilst the other 99 percent are related to everyday wear and tear. The conditions are categorised into several groups – herniated disk, spondylosis, sciatica and spinal stenosis.
“The signs of lower back pain include numbness and weakness to the extent of tingling feeling of pins and needles and at times, coughing and sneezing could make it worse.”
Prevention is always better than cure, said Dr Surendiran, hence, constant stretching as part of daily habit could help ease pain or prevent back pain.
“At times, we tend to be too busy with our chores, we forget to take note and use correct lifting technique and posture when at office and in day to day activities. The best preventive way, is to warm up before sporting activities and afterwards, so that the body could adapt easily.
“More importantly, make it a habit to exercise daily, as it not only the key to prevent low back pain, but also strengthens core muscles.”
The public health talk which was held at Pustaka Miri in conjunction with the World Spine Day which is celebrated annually on October 16.
The event which held in collaboration with TAGS Miri, was attended by over 230 participants from public and private agencies in Miri as well as individuals.