By Lukmon Ogundoro
Men, especially the old ones, have been advised to engage in less sexual activities to manage back pain.
Speaking under the topic Back and Spine Health at the Quarterly Health Talk of the Lagos Country Club, Ikeja, a Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon at the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, Lagos, Dr. Tunji Babalola stated that during sexual activities, the back aches involuntarily as to cause so much pain.
Defining the back as the place just behind the neck down to the waist he said, “Most patients have fracture at the back during sex but wouldn’t know because the sympathetic discharge won’t let you feel the pain as it has overridden everything at that stage.”
Babalola also disclosed that studies have shown that animals don’t have back aches. He pointed that back pain is the price that human beings are paying for standing upright unlike all other animals who walks on four legs.
He stated further that once there’s an injury to the back, it can never remain the same as anything that affects the back affect the spinal cord.
Babalola listed the causes of back pain as inborn, developmental and acquired. The acquired, he stressed, is inescapable for all men and women as wear and tear sets in at old age.
Among others, Dr. Babalola cited poor sitting positions as major reason why human beings experience back pain.
As a panacea to back pain, he advised that the best sitting position is to have all parts of the body at 90 degree to each other with a back a back rest and arm rest.
“By this, anytime you seat, your feet should be on the floor at 90 degree to your leg; leg also at 90 degree to your thigh; while the thigh to your waist should also be at 90 degree. And there should also be back and arm rests.” This practice, he pointed, will allow wear and tear associated with old age to come at natural pace.
Lagos Country Club, Kayode Moradeyo urged people to add health insurance pointing that keeping healthy is essential. “We believe people should enjoy good health while alive.”
Chairman, Health Committee, Lagos Country Club, Dr. Tunde Olujobi said the programme is timely putting into cognizance the global shift from curative healthcare to preventive.
Olujobi added that the programme is a form of health promotion which is simply defined as empowering people to take charge of their health.He added that the state of health in Nigeria is not impressive.
Among others, Dr. Olujobi noted that life expectancy is 52 years and annually, one million children die in Nigeria before the age of five due mostly to neonatal cases followed by malaria and pneumonia.
