Brevard Health Source 2016

THE PLAGUE OF
BACK PAIN:
PREVENT IT BEFORE IT STRIKES
Nancy O’Donnell
Rochester Democrat & Chronicle
According to reports from the World
Health Organization, more people in
the United States are disabled from
work as a result of musculoskeletal
disorders — especially back pain —
than from any other group of diseases.
When back pain strikes, sufferers may reach
for over-the-counter drugs, grab heating pads,
take to bed or head to the doctor. Once there,
some request surgery, thinking it will provide immediate
relief.
Not so fast, said Dr. M. Gordon Whitbeck Jr.,
a fellowship trained orthopaedic spine surgeon
with Rochester (N.Y.) Regional Health’s Whitbeck
Spinal Associates.
“The chance for a good to excellent result (after
surgery) for low back pain is 65 percent to 75
percent,” he explained, adding that you probably
wouldn’t buy a new car if there were a 30 percent
chance that it wouldn’t run.
The best thing to do? Avoid it in the first place
with preventive measures. One place to start is
quitting smoking.
“Studies have found that smoking is deleterious
to the health of intervertebral disks,” Whitbeck
said. “Nicotine and other substances lead to
greater disk degeneration.”
Being sedentary also promotes low back pain,
explained Elizabeth Wetmore, a coordinator of
the Spine Rehabilitation Program at UR Medicine’s
Sports and Spine Rehabilitation.
“Staying active is so important in a society
where we sit too much and sit with poor posture,”
Wetmore said.
Part of the problem is sitting and slouching.
“Most people know they slouch,” she said.
“We spend weeks or months slouched over a
computer or a smartphone.”
“It’s a huge problem,” Wetmore said. “People
come in experiencing chronic neck pain. They
don’t realize bending over a smartphone for long
periods of time every day can be the equivalent
of some 50 pounds of stress (on the neck).”
An alternative to “cellphone hunch posture,”
she said, is to “hold the phone up level to your
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