BackCare Awareness Week - 6-12th October, "Back in the Office"

Back pain affecting office workers is the theme of the BackCare charity awareness week this year. Relaxback UK is proud to be a sponsor of this very worthwhile charity and is taking part in some events during the week.

Round Table Discussion

Already recorded and to be aired on UK Health Radio is a round table discussion looking at some current treatments and ways to avoid back pain in the first place. I was joined by the following experts and the result was an informative and entertaining chat.

• David Rose and Juliana Hyka of Medserena - they very kindly hosted the event at the upright MRI centre  www.mri-london.com/
• Dr Glenn Caley - a chiropractor with the Gonstead Clinic in Harley Street - www.gonstead.co.uk
• Namonga Mtonga - a chartered physiotherapist who carries out work assessments with RBLI for the Access to Work Program - www.rbli.co.uk/employment_solutions/accesstowork/
• Nick Sinfield - clinical director of Spring Active who have programmes to help back pain sufferers that have been proven in the armed forces - http://spring-active.com/

Thank you very much to everyone for coming and taking part in the discussion and thank you to Medserena for hosting.

The conversation will be aired just before and also during the awareness week on www.ukhealthradio.com :-

Wednesday October 1st at 6am and 6pm
Friday October 3rd at 11am
Saturday October 4th at 1am, 9am and 5pm
Monday October 6th at 11am and 11pm

The show is also available here on a podcast here -

Back Pain Information/ Advice at Nuffield Health Gym, Bishops Stortford


From mid-day on Friday October 10th at Nuffield Gym in Bishops Stortford there will be some free advice on how to treat and how to avoid back pain. This will be given by:-

• A chartered physiotherapist
• A nutritionist
• A workstation consultant

There will also be some office furniture to try out. The event is open to memebers and non members of the club.

http://www.nuffieldhealth.com/gyms/bishops-stortford



Back Pain Information/ Advice at RSPB, Sandy

For staff only there will be seminars from an osteopath, a nutritionist and a workstation consultant along with the chance to try out different types of desks and office chairs. This event is on October 8th.

We Need a Healthy Mix of Sitting and Standing - what is happening in USA

We Need a Healthy Mix of Sitting and Standing

It is often said what happens in the USA ends up happening here sooner or later. An article that is a review of the Back App chair also looks at American office habits and says that they are going through a Renaissance in active office furniture with standing desks, treadmill desks, desktop risers, and adjustable height conference tables slowly transforming the workplace for the better.

This type of approach is being seen, somewhat, here in the UK and there have been plenty of articles and media attention given to sit/ stand desks and how we should spend less time sitting. However the article makes the point that to get rid of office chairs completely is 'not realistic, and it's not even healthy.'

America does have a problem with  sedentary lifestyles (as do we) and promoting standing is generally a good thing but a balance is needed. The article points out that too much standing can lead to fatigue and varicose veins so we need a situation where office workers can switch between sitting, standing and walking. The walking can be walking up the stairs rather than taking the lift or even on treadmill desks.

The general idea that employers should try and take on board is that helping your staff to keep moving will keep them healthier and that has got to be a good thing for the bottom line.

The article referred to is here - http://www.workwhilewalking.com/back-app-active-chair-review

The Back App Chair