Avoiding Back Injury

The musculoskeletal (MSK) system comprises of muscles, tendons, ligaments, bones, joints and their associated tissues that support and move the body. Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs) are conditions that impair normal physical activity due to pain. MSDs can be caused by a major trauma, such as lifting something heavy causing acute injury, or cumulative micro-traumas leading to a repetitive strain injury (RSI), such as bad posture or repetitive tasks.

Most people can recognise and avoid major traumas if they are aware of how to do things correctly; it is often the repetitive strain injuries that develops over time. Some people find themselves in a lot of pain caused by an incident that seems trivial. It is common for people to think ‘but all I did was lean over slightly’ or ‘I don’t know what started it, it just steadily built up’. Micro-traumas, happening in the background go unnoticed due to a lack of pain or the fact that we can still complete our daily tasks.

Over time they reduce the efficiency of the body’s supporting tissues, which eventually fail to do their job leading to pain. RSI is an umbrella term that is used to refer to conditions of the MSD system that are associated with repetitive tasks.