Back pain causes misery for up to 91% of Ireland’s adult population at some point in their lives, yet despite its prevalence, many of us still don’t know how best to deal with what is often a debilitating and chronic problem. “Myths and misconceptions about back pain and its treatments are so widespread,” says Fiona Wilson, professor in physiotherapy at Trinity College Dublin. “It means that often people are not doing the things that could really help to alleviate their problem.
” A Lancet review on the global low back pain epidemic reported that the condition is now the leading cause of disability worldwide. While most people with new episodes of back pain recover quickly, two thirds will have a recurrence within 12 months of initial recovery. Lifestyle factors, such as smoking, obesity, and too little physical activity, are strongly associated with back pain and, for all the back pain gadgets and supplements you can buy, it is usually the simplest strategies that bring the best long-term results.
A new study by researchers at the University of Turku and Turku University Hospital in Finland, published in the BMJ Open , found that mid-lifers who reduced daily sitting time prevented back pain from worsening over six months. People with low back issues often have excessive fat deposits within their back muscles, as well as impaired glucose metabolism, which predisposes them to pain. Although the team did not show that less sitting led to direct improvements in back m.
