Spine of the Matter

Dr Anup Khatri, senior consultant in Orthopedics at Gleneagles Hospital, Parel, Mumbai, added long working hours and excessive screen use could also contribute to spine-related problems.

- KAVITA BAJELI-DATT @New Delhi

"Spine problems can be seen more among office workers, IT professionals, older adults, and manual labourers. These people often sit in front of their digital screen for hours, lift weights, and rarely get time to stay mobile. This can negatively increase their risk of spine problems."

Dr Dhruv Chaturvedi, associate director of Neurosurgery at PSRI Hospital, Delhi, said another category of people experiencing increasing spinal problems is young adults, especially those who go to the gym and do deadlifts and weighted squats and may develop lumbar spine problems.

Agreeing that spine-related problems have gone up in the country, Dr Raghuram G, additional director of Neurosurgery, Fortis Hospital Bannerghatta Road, Bengaluru, said one reason could be the bad quality of roads and the increasing number of people doing desk jobs and having poor posture.

It could also be because more and more Indians are becoming diabetic and obese, which indirectly affects the spine health, Dr Chaudhry said, adding he is seeing many children in the age group of 15-17 years suffering from spine-related problems because they spend more time on screen than outdoors.

"Most Indians are leading a sedentary lifestyle. The physical activities of most people, even children, are less. All these factors are significantly leading to an increase in spine-related issues in the Indian population."