Stretching helps low back and shoulder aches as well as tiredness

There is, fortunately, an ever increasing amount of evidence relating to health, especially relating to shoulder and low back pain.  Most of this is really only of use to health care professionals but sometimes it can be useful to the general public and act as motivation to act in a way that will increase your health.  Unfortunately, it is usually written in a very jargon-rich format so I thought I would translate some into regular English for you.  Here is the first of these and  hopefully I will do something similar every few months.

Stretching and joint mobilisation exercises reduce call-center operators’ back and shoulder discomfort and fatigue

“Back and shoulder pain”

This study looked at whether call centre workers had less aches and pains if they had a period of stretching during a six hour shift.  In a previous study it was found that as little as 2 hours of continuous desk work increases how sore people are in their muscles and joints.  The researchers decided to look at the difference between activities people did while being on a break from work.

This study compared just resting to stretching and mobilising joints.  Over ten weeks the level of discomfort in the group that did the stretches decreased much more than in those who had rest.  This was particularly true of discomfort in these workers spines and across their shoulders.  This means that if you suffer from low back pain or pain in your shoulders it would be particularly useful to stretch.

Interestingly the group who did stretching also had better concentration.  This meant they felt less tired, had better word finding ability and made less mistakes.  It could be that the aches and pains were distracting the workers from the task at hand.  That said it could be a great idea for people who are in charge of offices to encourage colleagues to be active and get up from their desks when they are taking a break.  It is not clear from the study what the exercises were but it seems to be great general advice.

Although this study looked at call centre workers it makes sense that anyone spending two or more hours at a desk  could benefit from stretching and moving their joints.  The breaks the study participants had were only short, only a 10 minute break for stretches every 2 hours.

So whether you are studying, working hard in your office or playing games on a computer when you pause get up out of your chair and take some exercise!  If you want help with your shoulder pain contact us by clicking here