Joyce Osunwa, a Physiotherapist with the National Hospital, Abuja, said on Monday that pain in the back and neck could be symptoms of more serious ailments.
Osunwa told the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja that Nigerians should seek medical advice if they experienced such discomfort.
The physiotherapist said that the mechanical pains could be a result of fatigue due to work and everyday activity, while non-mechanical pains could be caused by infections and tumors.
She advised people to be cautious of their sitting, standing and sleeping postures to avoid back and neck pain.
Osunwa said: “If you suffer back pain, first of all go see your doctor or see your physiotherapist because you need to be sure of what is causing the back pain.
“If it is caused by a mechanical dysfunction, then the physiotherapist will take care of it but if it is pathology, you do not want to let it be there for long.
“Wear and tear is what happens due to your everyday activity.
“People should be cautious of their posture.
“When I say posture I mean in sitting, in sleeping and even in their everyday activity because if you keep on assuming a wrong posture, you might not know but in the long term it would cause problems for you.
“As much as I want to talk about posture, I want to talk about support because as much as you want to have the right posture or do things in the right posture, you will also want to have the right amount of support you need to have so that everything is balanced.”
The physiotherapist also advised people to avoid using mattresses and pillows that were too hard or too soft.
Osunwa said: “We discourage very hard mattress and very soft mattress.
“We just encourage a mattress that is good enough to just support all the curves in the body without necessarily sagging.
“We advise patients to use orthopaedic beds because they give the kind of support we need.
“The ones that are not too hard though.
“Orthopaedic mattresses are good for patients with back pain.
“We advice the use of pillows but your pillows must not be too high and they must support your head, your neck and your shoulders.
“So, your pillow must not be too high and not too flat, ot too hard and not too soft.
“It should just be okay to give your head, your neck and your shoulders the kind of support they need.”
Osunwa said patients with back pain were generally advised on how to reduce stress on the neck and back by maintaining proper sitting and sleeping postures.
She said: “We give them back care instruction like don’t bend.
“We teach them how to lift.
“We discourage bending.
“We advice them on the work station.
“We also advice on ergonomics.
“We teach them how to get the right seat and the right table so that at every point while they are doing their work, the whole body structure and their backs are properly supported.
“So that they don’t put any stress or strain on the back, which will now lead to back pain in the long run.”
She added that a lot of people complained especially about back pain, saying: “Back pain these days is responsible for people not going to w
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