Commentary: More people are in pain – from sitting at their desks all day
SINGAPORE: I was shocked when Mr Wong* limped into the consultation room.
But three months ago, he seemed like a different man – despite hurting in his knee he was able to climb the stairs and go on regular morning walks.
Mr Wong, 67, was diagnosed with osteoarthritis of his knee and was referred to us every bit he was not groovy for surgery. He had completed 3 sessions of physiotherapy.
Just later those sessions, he cancelled his previous physiotherapy appointments because the number of COVID-xix cases were rising and he was afraid of contracting the virus.
So he stopped his daily walks, stayed home to keep safe and subsequently put on weight because of increased snacking.
On the same day, Ms Loh*, a working adult, came in to see u.s. for hurting in her neck. This pain developed when working from home became the norm in her company. Her persistent pain was down to prolonged poor ergonomics and sitting posture.
Ms Loh worked long hours on her laptop, without frequent breaks and her daily step count savage by more than 70 per cent since she started working from dwelling.
GROWING Tendency OF PREVENTABLE Weather
Mr Wong and Ms Loh are not isolated cases. At the Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) Outpatient Physiotherapy dispensary, nosotros are seeing a tendency of patients developing sedentary-related musculoskeletal conditions.
On average, I see well-nigh 10 cases a week, up from three to four cases before the pandemic. These new cases would not otherwise require physiotherapy if not for the pandemic. Such preventable musculoskeletal conditions may be avoided if they had acceptable concrete activities.
Added to this is a worrying trend of Singapore's obesity rate, which has risen to the highest level since 2010, according to the Ministry building of Health's survey published in November 2021.
What nosotros see in our dispensary shows how the pandemic has increased sedentary lifestyles. An case of a directly impact is the lack of motion when people work from home – if they go into the office, they are likely to have public ship or walk to lunch.
These opportunities to move are completely taken away and it is common for patients to sit at their desks from 9am and not move until 6pm. And afterwards work, they sit even more – if they lookout TV or scroll through social media to wind down.
The problem is, human bodies are not designed to sit down for long hours backside a desk-bound nor be cooped upwards in an apartment for days. All our joints and muscles require regular movements and skillful musculoskeletal health helps reduce pain.
Studies show that physical activeness is a modifiable gamble factor for cardiovascular diseases, Type ii diabetes, cancer, obesity, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, hypertension, and depression.
This means that the gamble factors may exist improved or prevented with physical activity. I have patients who changed their lifestyles and then had medication for hypertension and diabetes reduced.
There is also ample inquiry proof that exercise besides eases feet – the release of endorphins plays a critical role in regulating our thoughts and feelings.
Concrete activity and practice are such a critical part of pain and disease direction in TTSH that we accept an Early on Mobilisation Program to get patients to do, even if they are in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
Those in ICU are also encouraged to get out of bed and walk the moment they are medically stable. Getting them to move even when they are critically ill have proven to help these patients maintain close to their pre-hospitalisation concrete strength afterward discharge.
COVID-19 AND CO-MORBIDITIES
You may take read in news reports that patients who died from COVID-19 had multiple co-morbidities. These include obesity, hypertension, diabetes and heart disease.
While some of these conditions are genetic and unmodifiable, in that location are many which can exist modified through lifestyle changes – chiefly, with regular exercise.
Recently published in the Journal of Infectious Disease, 511 people in the military who contracted COVID-19 were studied. The findings showed that obesity had a potent correlation to COVID-19 severity.
In some other large study of over 387,100 adults in the United Kingdom, the findings concluded that those who were physically less active, smoke and are obese had a iv-fold risk of getting COVID-19 compared to those who had healthier lifestyles, suggesting that practice and nutrition could lower the run a risk of severe infection and hospitalisation.
Similarly, a Swedish study of 279,455 adults found that cardiorespiratory fitness and lifestyle played a large role in preventing severe COVID-19.
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DECIDING TO Exist Active IS HALF THE BATTLE WON
The Health Promotion Board recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercises or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity exercises along with strengthening exercises at least twice a week.
They also recommend incorporating balance training exercises for the elderly to preclude falls. The greatest difficulty, based on the patients we see, is getting started and keeping a routine going.
Which is why, we often commencement with getting patients to decide what bothers them the most – information technology could exist constant pain for instance. Then we identify why they want to alter – over again, information technology can exist to exist free of pain, medication, to travel, play with their grandchildren and so on.
A common reason people give about non exercising is that they cannot find the time. Just i doesn't demand to carve out time especially for exercise to comprise them in your twenty-four hour period.
Recall of it this way: fifteen to xx minutes of exercise at the outset and end of your day is similar a good vitamin pill you take. If you accept no physical activeness in a twenty-four hour period, then snacking and processed foods should be cut.
Make time to walk when you can, instead of driving or taking the bus. Climbing the stairs is expert pick besides. While you are watching a show, employ a sack of rice as weights or just spend 20 minutes at a fettle corner in your neighbourhood on your way to become groceries.
The reason most of us have problem keeping to our practice commitments is because our goals are not specific enough.
Using the SMART goal system, be specific (walk 5,000 steps daily), get in measurable (thirty minutes of walking, 10 squats, 5 button-ups) and make information technology achievable (if your current average daily steps are 3,000, x,000 steps may be likewise loftier. Start by setting 5,000 then 8,000).
Goals also demand to be realistic. In the instance of Ms Loh, her target was to perform one minute of stretches every hour of work. Finally, set up a fourth dimension frame (I will do l squats daily for one month).
DON'T BE HARD ON YOURSELF
Having said all that, it is of import that missing targets are office of the journey. Many patients I run into feel discouraged when they don't comply with the prescribed plans or they don't see any progress.
It is okay to miss a day or two, what's important is to go dorsum to it. And if you hit milestones, don't be shy well-nigh celebrating your success. We also live in a time where at that place are a wide array of resources. TTSH for instance has a Get Active east-booklet people can use to get them started.
If you are struggling, you tin can e'er make an appointment with your md to help you.
*Pseudonyms were used in this commentary.
Justin Wee is principal physiotherapist at Tan Tock Seng Hospital.
Source: https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/commentary/exercise-backache-musculoskeletal-conditions-health-297111
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