A woman of 30 was cleaning the house when she started feeling terrible pains in her lower back every time she used a bit of strength, painful enough to make her go straight to the hospital to get it checked out. It turned out that she had slipped a disc. The physiotherapist discovered there was a problem with her intervertebral discs, and whenever any pressure was applied to them they could pop out.
There has been a 30 percent increase in recent years in back pain caused by sweeping. The Taipei City Department of Health has recently issued a guide called Prevention and Treatment of Occupational Lower Back Injury, introducing steps you can take yourself to prevent injury. Chien Wen-Jen, standing director of the Physical Therapy Association of the ROC, demonstrated for us the correct posture to have when sweeping. If you would like a copy of the guide you can download it from the DOH Web site at http://www.health.gov.tw/ or pick one up from any one of the district health centers around Taipei.
Yu Li-hui, a division chief at the DOH, pointed out that muscle problems are becoming much more common, and that if people maintain the same posture for long periods of time when sweeping they will strain their muscles and cause physical problems such as lower back pain, tendinitis or spinal injury. According to Chien the “five noes” when it comes to lower back pain include incorrect posture, causing excessive strain to certain muscles; moving in the wrong way, making it easy to pull a muscle or even do damage to your bones; using muscles too weak for the task at hand; long periods of inactivity, which can make the muscles tighten up and restrict blood flow; and long periods of work without taking a break, not allowing your muscles to relax.
Chien explained that common causes for poor sweeping posture include using a broom that is too short, sweeping with your back bent, moving heavy objects with your back bent trying not to get your clothes dirty, and moving boxes out of the way, putting too much strain on the lower back region. He recommended that the best thing to do is choose a broom that is long enough, rest the end of the broom handle in the crook of your elbow, and move forward in an arc. He also said you should reduce the amount of strain on the small of your back, and when you move heavy objects you should squat down, lean the object against you, and lift with your legs. When you are actually moving it, transfer the weight from one leg to another, moving the whole body and not just turning from side to side, making sure you keep the back straight. This should lower the chance of spraining the muscles in the lower back as much as possible.
He also pointed out that you could do some warm up exercises for anything up to five minutes before you start sweeping, spreading both arms and legs and bending to the side whilst stretching the arms and legs. This strengthens the arms, lower back and lower limbs. Chien also emphasized that it is better not to do all the cleaning in one or two days, and to do it in “installments” instead, starting the sweeping now and giving the body a chance to recover.
(LIBERTY TIMES, TRANSLATED BY PAUL COOPER)
一名三十歲少婦在家大掃除時,腰部一用力,痛到直奔醫院報到,醫師檢查原來是椎間盤突出。物理治療師分析,女子椎間盤較弱,一用力腹壓增加,造成椎間盤突出。根據往例,年前因打掃造成腰痠背痛、閃到腰的病患較平日增加三成。
台北市衛生局日前發表「職業性下背痛防治手冊」,介紹背部自我保健方法。中華民國物理治療師學會理事長簡文仁現場示範正確打掃姿勢。有意索取手冊者可至衛生局網站下載,或至十二區健康服務中心索取,網址:http://www.health.gov.tw/。
衛生局健康管理處處長游麗惠指出,現代人普遍肌力不足,掃除長時間維持同一姿勢,過度勞動易造成肌肉骨骼受傷,例如下背痛、肌腱炎或脊椎損傷。
簡文仁表示,導致下背痛的「五不」包括:一、姿勢不對,造成組織不對稱的過度負荷;二、動作不當,軟組織拉扯挫傷,甚至傷及骨骼;三、肌力不足,無法負荷疼痛;四、久滯不動,肌肉緊繃、血流不暢;五、勞勞不休,持續反覆動作無法讓組織休息。
他解釋打掃常見不正確姿勢包括掃把長度不足,彎腰打掃,搬重物擔心灰塵弄髒身體,直接彎腰搬,刻意把箱子拿得太遠,造成腰部必須用力,容易閃到腰。
他建議最好選擇夠長的掃帚柄,柄抵住手肘,以弓箭步往前移動,減少腰部用力。搬重物時須蹲下去,將重物靠攏在身邊,使用腳力起身,搬移時直接利用雙腳轉換方向,整個人直接往一旁轉,並非僅往旁邊扭腰,保持腰部平直,降低腰閃到機率。
簡文仁提醒,可於打掃前一至五分鐘做暖身操,打開雙手雙腳,身體成大字形,側身成弓箭步,手腳同時伸展,強化手部、腰部及下肢。他也強調,不要集中一至二天密集清掃,最好有「分期付款」的概念,現在開始打掃,讓身體有修復的機會。
(自由時報記者林相美)
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