01 July,2019 11:06 AM IST | | mid-day online correspondent
Representational Pic
Most of us do not quite enjoy our periodic visits to the doctor as sympathy often lies fairly and squarely with the patient. However, what many people fail to appreciate is that these situations place considerable musculoskeletal demands on health professionals, such as dentists and surgeons while they are treating us in an attempt to improve the quality of our lives. The cause of this lies in the fact that, for a patient, medical visits typically involve sitting in a comfortable reclined position, while the dentist often has to bend to perform the oral work.
In the case of a surgeon, while the patient is usually unconscious or supine, the medical professional must contort their own body in order to perform the surgery. In fact, there exist vast similarities in the work of dentists and surgeons as both professions involve working in a standing posture and prolonged stooping over a reclined or supine patient. Besides, the similarities also involve the fact that a variety of hand equipments must be used by both professionals in a delicate manner. Both professions also involve working for extended periods of time, typically less than an hour per patient for a dentist and considerably longer than an hour for a surgeon.
The prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders among surgeons published in a JAMA survey analyzed a 12-month prevalence of specific pain types in doctors. Following were the findings:
Neck pain - 60% (No. of doctors surveyed - 1921)
Shoulder pain - 52% (No. of doctors surveyed - 1360)
Back pain - 49% (No. of doctors surveyed - 2254)
Upper extremity pain 35% (No. of doctors surveyed - 1343)
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Dr. Garima Anandani, senior spine specialist and clinical director of the QI Spine Clinic at a recent POP talk at Nair Hospital shared her concern regarding the fact that 70% of the dentists suffered from back pain due to their work. She stated that "Awkward working posture, repetitive slant and prolonged standing leaves dentists to be very vulnerable. This damages the muscles, joints, bones, ligaments, tendons, nerves, and blood vessels leading to pain and fatigue.
"Surgeons are at risk of developing neck and back pain as they work long hours, along with standing in awkward positions for a long period of time, while they hold human life in their hands," she added.
The 3 main risk factors leading to this kind of occupational back pain in dentists and surgeons involve poor lifestyle choices, postural faults leading to muscle strains being placed on the backs as bending or twisting is a huge factor in the profession, and lack of physical activity which causes weight gain leading to stress on the spinal column.
This National Doctor's Day, here are a few tips for doctors to prevent occupational back pain:
Ergonomic recommendations in minimizing the risks of back injuries among medical professionals primarily focus on improving working posture, lifestyle choices, and equipment design. These include:
In case of an existing back condition, one must be sure to visit a spine specialist. Accurate analysis of the spine can be acquired by advanced spine function tests more effective than basic MRI's or X-Rays like that of the Digital Spine Analysis (DSA). Through the results of this test, pain management and targeted mechanical and medical treatment of the affected area can be performed to attain functional recovery.
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