Ceenex Back Care Awareness Week

Ceenex uses Back Care Awareness Week to promote healthy and safe lifestyles

Back Care Awareness Week, which takes place every October, is an important event in our calendar because it provides us with another opportunity to promote a healthy and safe lifestyle inside and outside the workplace.

As a leading engineering and technology company, Ceenex values health and safety which can be evidenced across our work sites and in the office.

Organised by BackCare, a British medical research charity that is dedicated to the management of back problems, this year’s Back Care Awareness Week takes place from 4 to 8 October. It again creates awareness of back pain that can range from a mild annoyance to a debilitating condition. This may be as a result of wear and tear; injury; musculoskeletal disorders, such as scoliosis, spina bifida and arthritis; or other serious underlying health conditions like Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s Disease or cancer.

People who suffer from these ailments need practical and emotional support. This is so that they can better manage pain and discomfort and, in doing so, improve the quality of their life.

Therefore, Back Care Awareness Week also creates awareness of the importance of seeking medical assistance when experiencing back pain. This is because chronic and debilitating pain may be a sign of a deeper underlying health issue that needs to be diagnosed as early as possible by a professional.

Prevention is aways better than cure. Back Care Awareness Week, thus, also focuses on imparting knowledge that will help you to avoid back injury.

The most common causes of back pain are strains and sprains. You can injure the muscles, tendons or ligaments in your back by lifting objects, especially if they are too heavy or when you have done so in an unsafe manner. People have also strained their backs by twisting, bending over or even simply sneezing or coughing.

Living a healthier lifestyle can prevent back injury. For example, people who maintain a healthy weight and do not smoke, which decreases blood flow and bone strength, are less likely to suffer from back pain.

Improving the way that you walk and sit can also reduce back injury. When working long hours at the desk, make sure that you are seated in the correct position. These are few pointers that will help you to improve your sitting posture:

• Keep your feet flat on the floor or footrest

• Do not cross your legs, knees or ankles

• Keep a small space between your knees and the seat of the chair

• Keep your knees at the same height as your hips or slightly lower

• Keep your ankles in front of your knees

• Relax your shoulders

• Don’t slump over and rest your elbows on your desk

• Keep you knees and forearms parallel to the floor

• Keep your elbows at your sides

• Sit up straight and do not slump to one side

• Look forward to avoid straining your neck

Exercise can also reduce or eliminate neck and back pain, while also being a very effective way of releasing stress after a long day in the office.

Considering our increasingly sedentary lifestyles, we are all at risk of injuring our backs. It is, therefore, important that we are aware of this risk so that we can better manage it and seek help when necessary.

---