Who Is More At Risk Of Getting A Lower Back Disc Injury?

Lower back pain has always been a hot topic in clinical settings. The statistic shows 80% of the population will experience lower back pain at some point in their life.(1) This includes muscle spasms and minor muscle tear injuries to the more debilitating condition such as disc herniation. Knowing the prevalence of lower back pain is undeniably high, it would make sense to know how injuries can happened, and who is more likely to hurt themselves.
 
Over the past few decades, researchers have learnt the spine is extremely robust, combining vertebrae and intervertebral disc (IVD), it allows us to perform different activities such as walking, jumping, lifting and other occupational work. Yet, injuries can happen when the loading is greater than what our spine can handle, especially during compression, axial rotation, flexion and continuous loading.(2) A few different studies were performed over time, aiming to find out what postures would put our spine, more specifically lumbar spine, into the most vulnerable position to injuries.(3)
 
The top 3 highest loading to lumbar spine are lifting with knees straight, followed by lifting with arms extended(load away from centre of gravity), and lifting in squat or sitting position.(3) Our hardworking tradesman or labour workers are higher at risk, however simple tasks like picking up a coin, using the whipper snipper, cleaning or reaching to your kids at the back seat, can equally put yourself at risk!
 
The top 3 least loading activities to lumbar spine are lying down flat, siting and standing up right without extra load.(3) These positions are generally the most comfortable and best for recovery for patients who suffer from acute disc injuries.
 
Just because numbers don’t lie, there’s more! The incidence of a herniated disc is about 5 to 20 cases per 1000 adults annually and is most common in people in their third to the fifth decade of life, with a male to female ratio of 2:1.(1) That means men in their 30s to 50s are the most at risk of a disc herniation injury.
 
At sprouting health, we believe spinal health is way far beyond the absence of pain. Check out our previous blogs to discover more about how spinal health can positively affect hand grip strength, proprioception and balance. If you or your loved ones are suffering from back pain, please don’t hesitate to speak to one of our chiropractors to see how we can help manage your concerns.

References

1.         Al Qaraghli MI DJO. Lumbar Disc Herniation StatPearls [Internet]: Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2023 [updated 2023 Feb 12. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK560878/.
2.         Desmoulin GT, Pradhan V, Milner TE. Mechanical aspects of intervertebral disc injury and implications on biomechanics. Spine. 2020;45(8):E457-E64.
3.         Bassani T, Stucovitz E, Qian Z, Briguglio M, Galbusera F. Validation of the AnyBody full body musculoskeletal model in computing lumbar spine loads at L4L5 level. Journal of biomechanics. 2017;58:89-96.