Job Satisfaction and Low Back Pain

Backaches and sciatica image.

Low back pain, more commonly associated with jobs involving physical labor, is now striking an increasing number of white-collar workers. Usually associated with heavy lifting, turning, bending and repetitive motions, back pain is becoming a plague among those who lift nothing heavier than a stapler.

While workplace design and employee fitness are factors in office workers developing neck and back injuries, an overlooked element is the psychosocial factor -- how positive a person's mental outlook is, and especially how much they like their career.

Instead of taking drugs to reduce the symptoms, more and more recommendations involve reducing the amount of stress and taking steps to increase job satisfaction.

Experts say that up to 80 percent of adults will seek treatment for work-related neck or back pain at some point in their career.

Dr. Kat Asks some important questions of interest to Rockville residents - Chiropractor Rockville Dr. Kat Asks...

Why is a "slipped disc" unlikely?
Separating each spinal vertebra is a disc. Its fibrous outer ring holds in a jelly-like material. Because of the way a disc attaches to the spinal bones above and below it, it can't actually "slip." However, a disc can bulge, tear, herniate, thin and collapse. But it can't slip.
Are chiropractors just concerned with the spine?
Our interest in the spine is because it covers the major communications conduit between your brain and your body. As a Rockville chiropractor my job is to locate areas (usually along the spine) that interfere with proper nerve communications to and from your brain. Chiropractic adjustments help restore nervous system integrity. In this way, chiropractic care can affect the function of your entire body.