Letter to the editor: Better health would reduce back pain

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Shelly Hampton ("Employers' proactive workplace measures reduce back injuries," Dec. 8, 2003) quotes some current literature regarding back pain then concludes that what is needed is a posture assessment. What she missed or neglected were studies that show that people have no interest in changing behavior when they perceive no problem. In fact, all efforts at screening or training to prevent back injuries to date have been unsuccessful. |ret||ret||tab|

On the other hand, it is known and accepted that people who exercise and avoid obesity have less back trouble. The employer's resources would be better spent promoting these activities since they carry many other health benefits.|ret||ret||tab|

It is useful when discussing the low back to differentiate between pain and claiming of a work-related back injury. Each is a huge topic in medical literature, so I won't try to summarize but to make a few salient points. Low-back pain is ubiquitous and generally tolerable to the active healthy person. Chronic low-back pain is usually related to discs and pinched nerves or is psychosomatic. The pain you feel right now is a function of everything that ever happened to you in your life.|ret||ret||tab|

The point is that the baggage one brings to the pain experience might be what makes it intolerable not the bulging disc (which is present in 30 percent to 49 percent of people without pain). Claiming a work comp back injury has been attributed to heavy lifting, lifting techniques, conflict with boss or coworkers, marital discord, depression and even credit card debt. No one factor has been consistently prominent among researchers. A posture assessment therefore would be unlikely to be beneficial.|ret||ret||tab|

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Charles Mauldin, MD|ret||ret||tab|

Springfield Physical Medicine|ret||ret||tab|

Springfield|ret||ret||tab|

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