Back Care Program
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Back Pain Snippets
About 85% of Americans
experience back trouble by age 50.
Back problems are the most
frequent cause of activity limitations
in working-age adults.
2Confidential and proprietary material of True Wellness™
Inc. All Rights Reserved 2011
Risk Reduction - Engineering/Design
You can design a safer lifting environment by:
avoiding very high and very low object placement;
reducing object weight and size;
providing handles;
eliminating the need for twisting motions;
eliminating bending and stooped postures; and
by providing mechanical assistance.
3Confidential and proprietary material of True Wellness™
Inc. All Rights Reserved 2011
Risk of injury - Heavy lifting Cart reduces risk
Ergonomics at Work
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WMSDs are occupational
disorders of the soft
tissues:
• muscles
• tendons
• ligaments
• joints
• blood vessels
• nerves
WMSDs
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Inc. All Rights Reserved 2011
Awkward lifting
Lifting above the shoulders, below the knees,
or at arms’ length
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Awkward Postures - Low work
Bending
Kneeling
Squatting
These postures are
hard on the back and
the knees
7Confidential and proprietary material of True Wellness™
Inc. All Rights Reserved 2011
8Confidential and proprietary material of True Wellness™
Inc. All Rights Reserved 2011
Neutral Posture –
The opposite of awkward posture
Standing neutral posture Seated neutral posture
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Inc. All Rights Reserved 2011
Back Care in the US
• 8 out of ten will suffer from it during their lifetime
• Back pain healthcare dollars $86 billion yearly
• 1.2 million spinal surgeries are performed in the U.S. each year,
300,000 of them are spinal fusions, at an average cost of
approximately $60,000 each
• Failure rate for back surgeries is extremely high (50% in some
studies)
10Confidential and proprietary material of True Wellness™
Inc. All Rights Reserved 2011
Back Pain - Acupuncture• A total of 10 acupuncture treatments were provided
over the course of eight weeks, the study concluded:
“Compared with usual care, individualized acupuncture,
had beneficial and persisting effects on chronic back pain.
• In trials among 1,100 patients with chronic lower back
pain which had lasted for an average of eight years,
almost half (47 per cent) of those who received
acupuncture showed significant improvement.
• A six-month study revealed acupuncture was more
effective than conventional methods for treating lower
back pain.3
• Approximately 57% of rheumatologists and 69% of pain
specialists referred patients to acupuncture specialists.2
11Confidential and proprietary material of True Wellness™
Inc. All Rights Reserved 2011
Chiropractic and Back Pain
A group of chronic low-back patients who underwent
chiropractic treatment showed higher pain relief and
satisfaction with the care and lower disability scores than a
group that underwent medical care, according to an
October 2005 study in the Journal of Manipulative and
Physiological Therapeutics (JMPT).
Chiropractic care cut back pain treatment by 28%, reduced
back surgeries by 32%, and reduced the cost of medical
imaging such as X-rays and MRIs by 37%.*
* Suite101.com http://www.suite101.com/content/chiropractic-care-for-back-pain-
a34372#ixzz1SBzdhWFW
. 12Confidential and proprietary material of True Wellness™
Inc. All Rights Reserved 2011
Consider Natural
Anti-Inflammatory Supplements
• Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) are a class of drugs
that include Motrin, Advil, Aleve and Nuprin. NSAIDs, according to a
1999 study in the New England Journal of Medicine, are responsible
for 16,500 deaths each year in the U.S.
• There are much gentler, herbal alternatives:
• Bromelain is a potent anti-inflammatory enzyme that can reduce
inflammation
• Turmeric has an active ingredient curcumin, which inhibits several
inflammatory compounds
• Myrrh anti-inflammatory oleo-gum-resin
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Inc. All Rights Reserved 2011
Back-Care Conclusion
Exercise regularly to keep the muscles that support your back strong
and flexible
Use the correct lifting and moving techniques
Maintain your proper body weight: being overweight puts a strain on
your back muscles
Avoid smoking
Maintain a proper posture when standing and sitting; don't slouch
Use a Stress Relief Technique: 20 minutes daily
14Confidential and proprietary material of True Wellness™
Inc. All Rights Reserved 2011