Every year on October 16th the world joins together to raise awareness on World Spine Day – with this years’ theme focusing on “your back at work.”
Did you know that 50% of the working population will experience back or neck pain symptoms at least once per year? And that back or neck pains are the primary reasons for workplace sick leave. Every year, World Spine Day devotes resources towards raising awareness and promoting education for good spinal health and the prevention of injuries in the workplace. Empirical evidence and studies have shown that poor postures and inactivity can contribute to the development of back pain and other spinal disorders – seeing as back pain is the largest single global cause of disability.
The vision of ‘World Spine Day’
- Raise awareness about spinal health and spine disorders within the interdisciplinary health care community, amongst public policy decision-makers and the general public.
- To provide an opportunity for and encourage ongoing discussion about the burden of spinal disorders.
- To promote a collaborative approach to easing the burden of spinal disorders.
Key Facts:
Current estimates of people affected worldwide:
- Back pain 632.045 million
- Neck pain 332.049 million
- In a recent study, low back pain ranked as one of the most “disabling” conditions and sixth in terms of usage of health funding
These numbers are mind-boggling in terms of how overlooked and prevalent they are in everyday life. Poor posture can easily become second nature, causing and aggravating episodes of back and neck pain and damaging spinal structures. Fortunately, the main factors affecting posture and ergonomics are completely within one’s ability to control and are not difficult to change.
Suffering a spinal cord injury often results in significant life changes. When the accident that causes a spinal cord injury was the result of another person’s negligence, it can be difficult to figure out how to move forward and what to do first. This is a very trying time for the victim and their family both physically and emotionally – our team at Graves and Richard can help.