‘A reason for lower back pain is excessive use of air conditioners’, a health expert has warned during a medical conference in Lucknow. Dr Dipak Malviya, HoD of anesthesia at Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences (RMLIMS) on Saturdat said that apart from sitting in one posture for several hours, excessive use of air conditioners would also cause back pain.
“Another reason for lower back pain is excessive use of air conditioners. This results in poor exposure to sunlight, which reduces Vitamin-D in the body.” Dr Malviya said.
He said that timely diagnosis, treatment, and lifestyle changes can help a lot in providing relief from the pain. “It has been seen that women experience more pain than men as they usually work a for long time in kitchen or in other parts of the house,” Dr Malviya added.
According to the IPCC report, despite their reliance on the technology, many people do not see air-conditioning as either comfortable or healthy. For some, the temperature is too cold in order to accommodate others at work or at home.
For others, over-use is intentional.
The seminar that was being organised to discuss ‘chronic low back pain and minimally invasive pain and spine interventions’ pointed out that a lifestyle change can only bring about relief from these back pains.
This warning comes on the day, the Indian metrological Department (IMD) has alerted that several states in India are likely to face immense heat waves. The IMD said that most parts of India, except the northwest and peninsular regions, are likely to experience above-normal maximum temperatures from April to June.
The met department has predicted an increase in above-normal heatwave days from April to June, particularly in central, east, and northwest India.
The most recent physical science report from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has estimated extreme heat events over land will become 4 to 9 times more frequent this century, and 1.9 to 5.1 degrees hotter.
People acclimatise physiologically and behaviourally, not to hot weather, but to a narrow range of relatively cold temperatures created by ubiquitous air-conditioning.
Perceptions are common of poor air quality, overly dry air and a lack of fresh air, leading to a range of minor health complaints, such as colds, rhinitis and joint pain. Moving from low indoor temperatures to the heat of outside is particularly unpleasant and seen as a risk to health.
(With inputs from agencies)
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