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Notes on Back Health for Office Workers

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If you work behind a desk, then you need to pay attention to your back. This is something I had to learn the hard way unfortunately. I am about 8 weeks out from rupturing a disc in my lower back, and in the process, have learned more about my back than I ever wanted to know. It's too late for me, as this is now a permanent injury. But if you haven't gotten to my point yet, then hopefully the following will help you avoid it.

A bit of history; it started with a bulging disc. This was an extremely painful experience that lasted for many months. The thing I learned most from this was the first point I want to share: If you have back pain for more than a couple days, go to the Doctor! The doctor will likely just prescribe muscle relaxers and painkillers. Note, these will do nothing to solve the underlying problem of a bulging disc. However, the doc can give you a referral to a Physical Therapist. At first, I scoffed, picturing a Physical Therapist as hooking me up to electrodes and watching me walk on a treadmill. I don't know where I got that perception, but it was wrong. The PT will assist you by helping you exercise, educate you about your back, and a bit of massage therapy.

There are some important things that the PT tought me about the causes of my injury. It was primarily related to long days sitting in a computer chair, with less-than-perfect posture. Over time, this can cause the discs in your back to push outward and eventually break through the fibrous tissue of your spine to push on your nerves. This is extremely painful, so mind what I say so you don't ever get there. Here's the key points to working behind a desk that I wished I had learned sooner.

1) Don't lean forward in your chair. This is horrible for your back and is a really common thing to do, especially when you really get into your work.

2) Don't sit for long periods of time without getting up. Make a point to get up, walk around, and stretch at least once an hour.

3) Try to keep your legs out in front of you, not curled back under your chair. This also helps enforce rule #1.

4) Get a chair with lower lumbar support. This helps push your back into the proper alignment, but not if you're leaning forward!

5) If possible, get a desk that can be adjusted to sitting and standing positions.

So, for me, I started to get much better after seeing a PT for some time. However, my arogance led me to be over-confident about my progress. I started riding my motorcycle, snowboarding, lifting heavy weights, and a few other activities before I should have. The problem is that I felt better, but really wasn't fully healed. These activities would've been ok, if I had just waited a bit longer. If you ever get to the point of healing from bulging discs, take my advice and take it slow. You will be able to do these things again, but you need to give it time. If you rush it, you might end up rupturing the disc, which is permanent, and will prevent you from doing some of these activities ever again. For instance, my orthopedic surgeon told me to forget about snowboarding, ever again. I can't tell you how disappointing that news was.

So, the good news is, I'm getting closer to recovery. I'm still struggling with pain and numbness, but I finally think I see the light at the end of the tunnel. The sad new is, I have dealt with this injury for over a year now, and can't imagine a day going by where I don't think about my back. I hope this advice helps somebody else, and would appreciate any additional advice or comments from others who may have been through this.

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