Young office workers are probably familiar with ‘Office Syndrome’ very well and probably also known that ‘neck pain, back pain, shoulder pain’ that occur from sitting in front of a computer all day is the beginning cause of this office syndrome. Some of them may know the cause, however, many of them choose to let this symptom be. They think the symptom would be better after they take some medicines or take some neck and shoulder massages. They do not consider that ignoring these symptoms may bring them to more serious symptom, such as “Herniated Disc”.
Dr. Phitsanu Sunthonpiyapan, Physician of Rehabilitation Medicine and Physical Therapy, Phyathai 2 Hospital explains “Office people always sit in the same position for a long time, use the same muscles of the body repeatedly so their muscles tension is excessive. These symptoms often occur at the neck, shoulders, and back, so these symptoms are called the ‘Office Syndrome’. If the patients still ignore these symptoms and still have improper sitting position, their symptoms would not be getting better. They should go to see the doctor for further correct diagnosis. The cause of these symptoms may occur from the degenerative spine and herniated disc. Ther is a chance that the disc may press on nearby nerves. Whenever the disc presses on any nerves which connect to any organs, it would cause so much pain in that area. This symptom is more serious than the office syndrome. The patient’s pain is so severe that affects his or her daily life. Moreover, it the patient ignore this symptom until his or her nerves cannot work as usual, it may cause the muscular dystrophy”.
Which symptoms are not only the Office Syndrome?
Whenever the office workers feel about pain, stiffness and muscle tension, they often think about the Office Syndrome. In fact, some pains are the warning sign that there are not only the general Office Syndrome, if following symptoms have been occurred together. It may be the Herniated Disc!
- The back pain has been occurred more than 2-4 weeks.
- If the patient’s disc presses his or her nerves at the waist area, the patient’s back pain is radiating down to one of his or her leg or both. If the patient ignores this symptom, his or her leg muscle will be weaker, then the patient is unable to control his or her walking or unable to control bowel movements.
- In case the patient’s disc presses his or her nerves at the neck area, the patient’s neck will be painful and radiate to his or her arm. The patient’s arm would be weak or numb after that the patient may loss of hand control.
- Whenever the patient has the following symptoms: coughing, sneezing or straining, the patient may feel deep pain due to the pressure in the spinal cord.
After someone already check themselves and found the said symptoms are occurred, they should go to see the doctor. If the doctor suspects that it may be the Herniated Disc, the doctor will send the patient to do MRI Checking or CT Scan to diagnose the severity of the symptoms and to find the treatment options. There are several options, each treatment option depends on the severity of the symptom. For the mild symptom patients, the doctor may suggest them to take the medicine together with take physical therapy. For the serious symptom patients, however, the doctor may recommend them to undergo surgery.
Not only Office Syndrome but also the Herniated Disc can be prevented by simply changing the behavior.
Office workers should be stretching frequently because these symptoms are caused by sitting at the same position for a long time. Everyone should take a rest every 1 hour. Stand up from the chair to move around and stretch to prevent their muscle from tension and pain.
- Adjust the sitting posture to be appropriate, including to adjust the office equipment to be suitable with the worker’s head. Whether it is a chair or the computer placement, both of them always affects the worker’s sitting posture. The angle should be adjusted to be corrected and suitable for preventing the worker from too much lift from the chair or too much lean to the computer during the working hour. Moreover, when sitting on the chair, worker’s feet must be placed properly on the floor, if not, there should be a shoe rack to help to be placed the feet properly.
- Regular exercise can help to increase muscle to be strength and flexibility. The risk to be Office Syndrome may be decreased. The extreme sports are not suitable because a sudden and rapid twisting is contributed to the rapid degeneration of the intervertebral disc. It is a risk of Herniated Disc.
Dr. Phitsanu Sunthonpiyapan, Physician of Rehabilitation Medicine and Physical Therapy, Phyathai 2 said not only the office workers who are at risk of being the Office Syndrome and Herniated Disc,
“…but the workers who frequently use their bodies heavily with incorrect postures or who repeatedly use the same muscles, such as the driver, cargo-lift worker, the technician who continuously uses his muscle for long hours or the worker who has to sit at the same position, who always be bended, lifted, or wristed back and neck for long hours, should examine the abnormal of his or her body. If it is started to feel pain in various areas, do not let it be. Try to examine your own behaviors to find which activity is the cause of that symptom, then, try to change the behavior in order to be recover from chronic pain and also prevent yourself from these symptoms”.
Dr. Phitsanu Sunthonpiyapan,
Physician of Rehabilitation Medicine and Physical Therapy,
Rehabilitation Medicine and Physical Therapy,
Phyathai 2 Hospital
