Tech professionals prone to Spondylosis

CHENNAI: The present generation of young geeks who sit hunched over a PC, neck craned into the monitor, feverish fingers on the keyboard and back arched like a drummer, all day long, are increasingly facing neck and back problems. The days when these problems used to bother old people are passé.

"Too many 20- something are now ending up on the hospital beds these days with their necks and backs out of commission," informed Apollo Hospitals — Chennai chief physiotherapist Dr A. Srichandra.

According to him, back and neck pain was something, which haunted the old people. But today with the new working conditions, professionals do not happen to get to concentrate on health but have to spend hours sitting in front of the computer. Result they end up getting degenerated disc, bulging disc, herniated disc, thinning disc and disc degeneration with osteophyte formation.

Although there are conventional physiotherapy available for such back and neck pain but Apollo Hospitals Group has come up with an advanced physiotherapy treatment where the concentration is only on specific movement unlike conventional physiotherapy where other parts of the body too moves while treating specific parts.

Recently Apollo launched "The Apollo DBC Clinic" in Chennai in tie up with Finland-based DBC International Ltd, which has pioneered the Active Spine Care in India.

DBC or Documentation Based Care is a pilot clinic, which focuses on improving the quality of life of people suffering from back or neck problems by focusing on prevention, treatment and maintenance through advanced physiotherapy.

To begin with, the DBC treatment protocol consists of an initial assessment of the patient. Each patient’s treatment is individually planned based on a thorough baseline evaluation. The baseline questionnaire consists of pain intensity scale, pain regularity scale, self-experienced impairment, severity of deconditioning (fatigability, strength, coordination and mobility) and finally specific loading to spine.

The data obtained from the evaluations is systematically saved in a DBC data base program, following which the DBC software plans the treatment for each and every condition.

Finally exercise with specific devices is recommended for the patients to enable precise and targeted loading in a planned, controlled way.

The treatment schedule is a one hour program stretching for six weeks. The cost for back treatment is Rs 6,000 and for neck it comes to Rs 4,000.

As of now Apollo has given treatment to 70 patients. Said Dr Srichandra, of which the majority fell in the age group of 30 years— 50 years. 28 percent of the patients were diagnosed with disc bulge where the patient gets bulging in his discs because of degeneration/ weakness or compression.

Spondylosis is the degenerative changes of the vertebra that can include bony formation at the disc spaces. "Once the treatment program is over the pain will not recur provided the patient follows the home program.

More than that those who are in the sitting job they should take time to relax after some time because of over pressure it will lead to disk prolapse," added Dr Srichandra.

CNS