Campaign for Back Health Day: medi promotes back health in the workplace

03/15/2023 – 07:00

medi GmbH & Co. KG

Bayreuth

Since 2002, March 15 has been National Back Health Day. It is organized by the Bundesverband deutscher Rückenschulen e. V. and Aktion Gesunder Rücken (AGR) eV (1) The manufacturer of medical products medi is also planning activities for its employees on this day, such as moving breaks and a lecture on the subject of “healthy at work”. The goal: to educate and anchor back-friendly behavior in everyday life in the long term. In an interview, physiotherapist and ergonomics consultant Frank Schulte gives helpful tips for healthy work and more well-being in general.

Mr. Schulte, statistically speaking, every third person in Germany suffers from back pain more often or all the time. (2) In your experience, has this been made worse by Corona?

“Absolutely! Since the corona pandemic, more people than ever before have been working from home – often without suitable furniture, for example at the kitchen or coffee table. The range of motion is also more restricted: many smaller ways such as going to the office, to the printer or to There is no need for colleagues to move to other departments. Sufficient exercise is usually neglected. The consequences can be tension and pain in the neck and back.”

What can employees actively contribute to prevention?

“Two things are crucial in everyday work: First, change your posture dynamically while sitting and vary between sitting, standing and moving. These dynamic changes in posture train the back muscles in a natural way, promote blood circulation in the muscles and ensure a better supply of nutrients to the intervertebral discs. For example, employees can make phone calls while standing or walk around the room. The more often the sitting position is changed, the healthier it is for the entire musculoskeletal system. When sitting, make sure to sit up straight and avoid a hunched back. Secondly, take regular breaks from moving stretching, doing lunges or short walks. Movement is the be-all and end-all. This also helps to reduce stress, recharge your batteries and clear your head – so that you can then go to work more relaxed and concentrated, whether in the office or at home. ”

After how many hours do you recommend a break?

“It varies from person to person and depends on the level of exertion. Short breaks are more important with one-sided stress, such as constant computer work, than with a variety of tasks with different requirements. In my experience, it makes sense to take a short break of five minutes every two hours In the case of repetitive tasks, such as those found in production or logistics, individual compensatory exercises should be integrated. These are exercises in the opposite direction of the otherwise one-sided load. Training in the correct lifting and carrying techniques can also be useful in many professions.”

Which sports are particularly back-friendly or explicitly strengthen the back?

“Sport generally helps to prevent complaints or at least reduce them – but not all disciplines and not every way of practicing them are equally good for the back. I particularly recommend my patients to swim, cycle, Nordic walk or horseback ride. For patients who already suffer from back problems, dancing is a good way to stay active despite the symptoms. Dancing trains body awareness and ensures a more upright posture, greater mobility and better coordination. Sports with jerky movements put more strain on the back and are therefore only suitable to a limited extent Movements like tennis, alpine skiing or golf, but the most important thing is to have fun with the movement – only then will you stick with it in the long term.”

Are there other ways to relieve your back?

“If the back hurts due to incorrect strain or tension, orthoses such as the Lumbamed plus from medi are a useful addition: They can help to reduce muscle tension and relieve pain. Orthoses also help to stabilize the spine by supporting them alongside passive stabilization can also provide an activating muscle stimulus and improve the patient’s mobility through pain relief.”

At the beginning you mentioned that unsuitable furniture often contributes to back problems – what should an optimally equipped workplace look like in order to reduce pain and enable more productive work?

“An ergonomic workplace should be designed in such a way that the furniture, the technology and the environmental conditions such as lighting or room climate protect employees from damage to their health – in the industrial and commercial sectors. The office chair is of the greatest importance. The optimal chair must be individually adaptable be, support the natural curve of the spine and protect against bad posture. A height-adjustable table is also important, which allows frequent changes of posture and prevents bad posture by being ideally adapted to the body size – and enabling work while standing. medi already has good ones here Standards. In the area of production, I recommend using special working aids such as height-adjustable turning boards, standing mats, standing or lifting aids.”

Does the arrangement of the work equipment at the table also play a role?

“Absolutely! The work surface must be large enough so that the screen, keyboard, mouse or other utensils can be set up flexibly. Frequently used work equipment should be as central as possible in the field of vision or within reach. The screen should also be positioned so that it is directly in the employee’s field of vision and does not have to constantly turn or twist. In addition, the screen should be tilted back to ensure a more relaxed view of the screen surface.”

What other offers round off the topic of physical and mental health in modern companies?

“Employers can make a decisive contribution to the physical and mental health of their employees with the following measures: healthy, varied canteen food and offers for stress management and physical activity. At medi, for example, all employees have the opportunity to regularly use the in-house sports studio. The offers are temporary usually placed in such a way that employees working in shifts can also take advantage of this. I am on site once a week and help with acute complaints in the areas of manual therapy, mobilization, functional exercises and fascia therapy. In general, a lot is done in companies to to maintain and promote the health of employees – and thus to create incentives for potential new employees.”

Dear Mr. Schulte, thank you very much for the helpful tips on the topic of health at work!

Information brochures on back health are available from medi Verbraucherservice, telephone 0921 912-750, e-mail [email protected].

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