Why Back Pain is Becoming More Common For Younger Men
As standards for fitness become lower for younger generations, the number of men suffering from back pain synchronistically increases. Experts cite a number of factors which include increases in office jobs that require long hours seated in front of a computer, and lack of exercise. Basically, being seated for great durations of time and having less time for exercises, results in poor core muscle strength which is responsible for supporting the musculoskeletal system properly.
Chiropractors have noted that more and more patients are seeking treatment for chronic low back pain and that on top of this, these patients are becoming younger and younger. Research shows that the average age for the onset of chronic low back pain in men is now age 37 which is much younger than data collected in past surveys.
This chronic low back pain is beginning to hit men at ages of about three or four years younger than what was common before. A lack of physical activity for the mid to late thirties segment of the male population is in stark contrast to older men who were much more active when they were in their thirties than the average man is of today. In short, today’s 60 year olds were in better shape when they were thirty than many present thirty year olds.
A recent survey by the British Chiropractic Association of British men, which included 2,100 participants, shows that 82 percent of them live with chronic back and neck pain. This a jump from a similar survey given just a year ago which yielded a figure of 75 percent. When asked at what age their low back pain began the average answer was age 37.
The problem, according to chiropractors, is that people sit for great portions of their day starting with a daily commute to work in a car. Once at work the long hours of sitting continues. This only broken up by short periods of exercise, like a weekend sports league, which is so infrequent that it actually poses more of risk for injury and chronic pain than if these men just continued to sit around all weekend.
Exercise needs to be regular on a daily basis. Something as simple as walking every day can provided protection against developing chronic pain in the back because muscles that are regularly used are less susceptible to injury when something out of the ordinary happens which requires their sudden use.
Used under Creative Commons Licensing courtesy of Paul Sullivan