Can an individual’s psychological feelings factor into back pain?

It has been said in past years that an individual’s emotions and psychological well-being can have a significant effect on our physical health, that said they can have can have an effect on our backs. In general it is factors such as anxiety, stress and negative mood and emotions that increase the chance of developing back problems. These factors can greatly increase the chance of a spell of acute back pain turning into chronic back pain. The main type of individual that this effect s is the ‘Downer’, the individual that always applies a negative attitude onto a situation. “the glass is half full” rather than “the glass is half full”.

The reasons for this type of attitudes affecting a person’s physical health are not completely understood but can be put into two sections. Behavioural would be the first. A person with acute back pain often start to limit their movements, to try and avoid triggering additional pain, these hesitant movements promote unnatural stiffness & inactivity that in turn causes more pain.

The second would be depression. Symptoms of chronic pain and depression share some of the same biochemical roots.

These two sections can also be changed. By improving how an individual feels about themselves, it is possible to relieve some of the pain and prevent a stint of acute pain becoming chronic.

FACT

Not only is low back pain the most common cause of work-related disability for people under age 45, but it is also the most costly, with most of these expenses from workers' compensation payments and medical bills.

Can an individual’s physical characteristics initiate back pain?

As I have said before the physical condition of a person can affect whether they begin to suffer from back pain. There are many factors which can contribute to the levels of back pain that an individual suffers from. Build, weight, and height have different affects of a person’s back. Being overweight has an increased risk of having back problems. Generally people who are overweight do not pay much attention to their physical appearance, hence have a lack of core strength. So what do we mean by ‘core strength’ and why is it important?

Core strength refers to the muscles deep within the abs and the back, these muscles are where our movement begins, whether it be lifting up a bag or running. So what has core strength got to do with reducing the risk of back problems?

“the abs and back work together to support the spine when we sit, stand, bend over, pick things up, exercise and more. The torso is the body's centre of power, so the stronger you are in that area, the easier your life will be.”

So with improving your core strength with strengthening the abs and back muscles, these muscles will hold the spine in place with also making it easier to keep the correct posture.

So it is true, an individual’s physical characteristics can initiate and prevent back pain from becoming a problem.

Is the way we work and play a part of the problem?

Is the way we work increasing the likelihood of experiencing back pain? It can be said that certain jobs may affect back pain more than others. You may think that industrial workers who may need to lift heavy objects and have a very physical job may suffer the most but that’s not always the case. Two types of work that often involves the greatest numbers of back problems are drivers and office workers. Driving in notoriously hard on your back as it involves prolonged periods of sitting and exposure to vibrations. This and on average drivers are not in the best of shape can lead to lower back pain, in the lumber area of the back.


Office workers also suffer from back problems, these problems can range all over the back. The main reason for office staff experiencing back pain is them maintaining the same position for long periods of time. The correct position for an office worker to be seated is as shown in the picture above.

• Sitting up straight
• Eyes level with the top of the monitor
• Feet flat on floor
• Avoid crossing legs
• Knees bent at 90 degrees
• Adequate back support

Office based companies have spent a lot of time and money in aids to help their employees adopt this seating position while at work, companies are preventing their employees from being absent. Differing from the perfect seating position is an image of bad seating positions which I’m sure we all do, keeping the perfect posture while seated is hard work on the body, better for it but hard. It is easier to slip into one of these positions but in the long run, not good for the back.

I touched briefly before on drivers being in good shape, core strength is an area I will look into later, but has comfort more a priority to our backs?

Who is affected? A look at gender

“Low back pain is ubiquitous, affecting roughly 8 out of 10 people at some point in their lives. It's the fifth most common reason for visiting a doctor, one of the top reasons people miss work, and the most common cause of work-related disability in people under age 45.

In spite of being so common, low back pain remains something of a medical puzzle. Even after extensive tests, physicians often can't pinpoint an exact cause. Many people with low back pain visit one doctor after another only to come away with conflicting opinions. Most cases of back pain are ultimately classified as "idiopathic," meaning they have no known cause — yet the pain is all too real to the person affected.

One thing is clear, whether your back pain is acute or chronic: To regain your get-up-and-go, you need to do just that — become active, at least within reason. An extended stay in bed, for instance, won't help your recovery and may actually hinder it.”

It is said that men and women are equally affected by back problems, however in western society, men are more at risk of disk problems due to their careers. These men are more likely to be treated with surgery. The greatest difference is the number of men in jobs that involve heavy lifting, these men tend to rush back to work after a back problem which in turn can lead to more problems.

Studies suggest that men are three times more likely to develop ankylosing spondylitis, a severe but uncommon form of inflammatory arthritis that affects the spine. However, other studies have found that this condition afflicts men and women in equal numbers.

On the contrary, osteoporosis (loss of bone density and strength) occurs in women more often than men. This disorder can cause severe weakening of vertebrae and may eventually lead to vertebral fractures. Vertebral fractures can cause a loss of height and, more serious, a rounding of the back, commonly known as dowager's hump. This can be seen in old age (see picture below)l. Women are also especially susceptible to degenerative arthritis of the lower spine (a condition that generally involves the vertebral joints). They may also develop spondylolisthesis (an abnormal forward displacement of a vertebra relative to the one below it).

All together back pain can affect everyone, male and female. It is a problem that exists thought western society.

www.aolhealth.com

Why Back Pain?

Back pain is a serious problem in western society, over our lifetime 8 out of 10 of us will suffer from it whether it be acute of chronic back pain. However experts still do not fully understand it. To start there are questions that need to be answered, and with finding out the answers it may help my understanding of back pain.

• Has western society always suffered from the problem? Is it global?
• Where is the problem?
• Who are the sufferers?
• What are the causes?
• Is there any way from preventing back pain?


Answering the above questions will hopefully give me an insight to the problem and increase my understanding.

Another reason for me to approach this problem is I suffered from back pain recently. I suffered from acute lower back pain in the lumber region of the back, which is the lover back just above the pelvis. Now hoping this problem doesn’t turn into chronic pain. My pain started a few weeks before easter break, I then went on a week’s snowboarding holiday and the pain was excruciating, every night I found myself using pain relief gels on my back. When I got back to the UK I made an appointment with a chiropractor, and after a discussion with her the reasoning behind the problem was apparent, sitting at my desk for extended periods of time and lounging about on the sofa was the reason behind the problem, this and the strains from the holiday increased the pan. Posture was also an issue of mine that had a great effect on my problem. So to put it basically, for me paying some attention to my posture and sitting upright on the sofa and at my desk was the solution to the problem.

For some people it is not that easy, and most people don’t understand the reasoning behind the problems. So increasing people’s awareness and knowledge and understanding of the problem and changing their perception will hopefully help in the prevention and aid of back pain.

Honours Project

Project Title

How can Design help aid the solution of Back Pain? Can increasing consumers knowledge and understanding help change their perception and thoughts regarding back pain?

Core Design Values= Key Works + Short Statement


• Problem Solving
• Functionality
• Usability
• Perception
• Knowledge and Understanding
•
Over the past 2 years of studying Product Design, I have found myself as a designer and understand how to put my skills to best use. I see myself as a problem solver looking at a design brief with a strategic approach. I find myself best understanding and solving a problem by looking at a problem from the consumer’s perspective, stepping into their shoes and understanding how they feel.
Back pain is an issue that affects 8 in every 10 UK adults at some point in their lives. It is a serious problem that is understated compared to many other problems with the body. It is an issue that can cause much pain, suffering and stress for the consumer.

Project Aims and Thematic Outline

Using my design knowledge, I will focus on the issue of back pain. Through doing this I aim to increase consumer awareness towards the implications of bad posture. I will look at the differences between cultures, and how they deal with back problems. Looking at the differences in the working classes, using miners and finishing school as an historical example. .I will also look at social differences that have indirectly led to the problem, focusing on how back pain differs in different social upbringings. I will increase my understanding of etiquette. As an example of back pain today I will look at various people from different backgrounds and how back pain causes problems in their lives. As an outcome I want to change the consumer’s perception and increase their understanding of back pain.

Crossing the Road after Disembarking from the Bus (2)

Leading on from the previous video, this has been filmed on a busy road outside a school. As it shows in the video the road is extremely busy and there are cars parked up along the roadside beside the bus stop. For small Children this could potentially be very dangerous as they may be smaller than the height of the car, making it very difficult for road used to see them. It also takes a while before there is a safe point to cross, meaning inpatient children may rush without thinking.

Crossing the Road after Disembarking from the Bus

Crossing the road after getting off a bus can sometimes be very difficult, especially for children and the elderly. There are good and bad crossings near and around bus stops. This video bellow shows a very difficult bus stop to reach. It is on a duel carriageway, with no crossings nearby. The duel carriage is a main road and can become extremely busy at peak times. This bus stop should really be re positioned as it is a safety hazard. In the video it take approximately 1 minute for the passenger to cross the road after getting off the bus, if you think this could be a school child, and school children are not wanting to wait about, they will try and dash across the road as soon as the can, this could result in a serious accident or could even be fatal.

Bus Blind Spots

At a visit to the First Bus Depot on King Street we met with to bus drivers, one who is an experienced bus driving instructor. After briefing them with the project they have one extremely important piece of information which you only realise in the Driver’s seat, so we found out for ourselves.
Blind spots are a major issue for a bus driver. Think of the blind spots while driving a car, but with a look over your shoulder they can be checked. However in a bus this is imposable. Looking over your shoulder you are met with a panel of the bus, there is no glass window. This means there is a huge blind spot out both sides of the bus. Bellow is an image showing the scale of the blind spot.


Another major blind spot in busses are directly in front of the bus. With a gap that would easily fit a child. The blind spot is increased even more in a coach. Further still at the rear of busses, bus drivers are completely none the wiser what is going on because they can’t see anything.



As accidents are occurring when children are running out in front and behind busses could something be done to stop this, using the spaces in the blind spots and stopping children from walking and running there?

Bad Rural Bus Stop

The above image shows what the average bus stop looks like in rural areas. Most bus stops are on busy roads where the speed limit can reach 60-70mph. This image was taken on a 40mph stretch of road. As you can see there are no points to cross the road and nothing to channel the flow of passengers as they leave the bus. It is also a very busy road with large commercial vehicles using the road. There is nothing to prevent traffic from speeding past the bus while it is stopped, and also there are also driveways situated near the bus stop.

Good Rural Bus Stop

The above image shows one of the safer rural bus stops. I feel it’s safer because of it features. It has an island in the middle of the road, which will help the passengers cross the road after departing the bus. It also will prevent traffic from driving past the bus when it is stopped, cars tend to speed up to get past busses, and this is sometimes the cause of accidents. Finally the island slows down the traffic, preventing traffic from driving at excessive speeds around bus stops.

Rural Bus Stops

Rural bus stops are very different to the bus stops I looked at in the city centre. They come in many different forms, from just having a small bus stop sign, to having an island in the middle of the road to allow easy crossing. Below are just a handful of the different types of bus stops in more rural areas.

No crossing, next to junction, lorries on road.
40mph zone, large vehicles on road, no crossing.
Island for crossing, multiple driveways close by.
Bus stop painted on ground, 40mph zone, no crossing available.

Bus Stopping - Union Street

Looking at the brief a major point of the project is getting on and off the bus. Staying with Union Street for the moment this video shows how bus shelters on Union Street work as a barrier between the road and the passengers when they are queuing. If you look at where the bus stops, the bus and the shelter merge into one object, stopping passengers form wandering onto the road. It also stops passengers from walking out in front of the bus after departing the bus.



This works very well in a city context, where there are many busses and the stops are used frequently. It only works though if the bus drives all use the same method. When the street becomes busy this is sometimes very hard, busses stopping at the other side of the shelter, or a little further along the street.

Busses on Union Street

To begin my research I went on a day trip in and around Aberdeen on the bus, documenting my findings using still images and video. I started on the busiest street in Aberdeen, knowing that there are hundreds of busses driving through Union Street every day I thought it would be a good place to start.

My initial thoughts on Union Street were the sheer busyness of the street. With bus lanes most of the way down the street, busses are a very predominant figure on Street. Busses stopping, pulling out to get buy other busses, sometimes it can become very congested. Here are some images that show how busy the Street is.

The image bellow shows how busses can take up a large amount of the road. For pedestrians trying to cross the roads and for cyclists this can be very dangerous.






From these images it shows how many busses there are on the roads especially in the centre. There are lanes especially for busses on union street but as you can see from the images, they busses don’t just use bus lanes

BUS STOP!

“Parents of Robyn, 15, help launch hard-hitting campaign to warn pupils of risks.”

The parents of Robyn who was tragically killed in after stepping off a bus have released a hard hitting bus safety campaign in conjunction with Talisman Energy. The campaign BUS STOP! Has been designed to help highlight the potential risks when getting on and off school transport, and the dangers of distraction in this situation. BUS STOP will become an integral part of the campaigns approach to road safety.


http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/1091886
http://www.1second1life.co.uk/

The Press and Journal – 31/12/08

“Safety calls after 19 die and 1,000 are injured in six years”

“Shocking toll of bus accidents revealed”

“Robyn Oldham, 14, died just yards from her home at Birkenhills, near Turriff, in September. She was hit by a car as she crossed the A947 Banff to Aberdeen road.”

“Just over two weeks later, 12-year-old Fraserburgh Academy pupil Alexander Milne was involved in an accident with a car after he stepped off a school bus at Lonmay.”

The statistics confirm the idea behind this project, but what is it that needs done? Does public transport need improving? Is it the bus drivers? Or could it be car drivers not paying any attention to stopped busses and the passengers in and around the busses? Or could it be people in general are just careless when using busses or crossing the roads?

There are countless theories behind the reasons for injuries and even deaths while in the vicinity of busses.

Reader’s comments on his article

‘It’s not the speed that is the problem - it's the LACK of SAFE driving by BUS DRIVERS. Walk down Union Street and see how many buses drive through amber and red lights. How many enter hatched junctions when their exit is not clear. Aberdeen needs bus drivers who drive responsibly.’

‘I used to get the Stagecoach bus into town for my daily commute and was astounded and shocked at some of the appalling driving standards by some of their drivers. One driver alone I made 3 separate complaints about as he was a danger to his passengers and other road users. I also discovered other passengers had made complaints about the same driver. I left my job in town simply because I found the travelling on buses too stressful. At times I would arrive home and at work a complete nervous wreck. Stagecoach never really investigated my complaints thoroughly and a few weeks ago I noticed the same driver travelling at his usual excessive speeds. If something serious happens with this driver, I do hope Stagecoach still have my complaints on file and a thorough investigation is made.’

‘In defence of us sensible bus drivers can I just say Wendy and John that not all of us are like that and we do sit rigorous driving exams both theory and practical and are not just handed out licences!! Our biggest problem are the companies themselves who give us such tight timetables to abide by that it nearly impossible to keep to if there’s excess traffic or problems. It's no fun dodging ignorant pedestrians and unreasonable car/white van drivers!! Have a thought for us decent ones sometimes, were not all bad!!!’

Child Safety Protection System for use with Busses

Background

For a high number of students and school children nationwide, the school day begins and ends with a trip on the bus. Unfortunately, each year many children are injured and several are killed in bus incidents. In fact, a child is three times more likely to be killed while boarding or getting off the bus than while the vehicle is moving.
In order to prevent these accidents different national safety councils encourage parents to teach their children some important rules for getting on and off the school bus. Furthermore, the government and city councils have upgraded a high number of difference roadside bus stops close to school areas, built bus shelters, covered walkways and roads improvements to increase bus safety.

Despite the above, and as recent tragedies prove, injuries and deaths still occur.

Project Aim

The aim of the project is to assist with the development of a child and general protection system for use on the busses to prevent accidents when children are getting on/off or are in the vicinity off the bus. The approach should be ‘inclusive’ in principle considering protecting the elderly, the infirmed, and those with impaired vision or hearing, whilst also helping the distracted pedestrian.

Water Filter Experiment

Water Filter

The one thing that there is far too much of in a flood is water. Water that is unsafe to drink! As in my board there is a picture of people carrying bottled water. This method of supplying bottled water to areas that have been affected by floods is very costly and uneconomical. So why can’t we use the water that we don’t want!

So from this i thought of making a basic filter to show a simple way of cleaning dirty water.

Senario Board

Scenario Two: Design for Water Adaption and Conservation. Above is a board showing some issues I feel are appropriate to this scenario.

· Contamination – the one thing that a flood provides is water, so why can’t we use this water? If there was a way to filter and clean the water, then it would provide thousands of litres of clean drinking water.

· Water Tanks – all the water tanks that i have found are all large blue tanks, not much to them at all. I did find an interesting picture of someone using a bucket hanging outside the window to fill the cistern of the toilet.

· Bottled water – this method of providing clean drinking water in a time of flooding will provide the water, but is it cost effective/economical?

· Tokyo Flood Tunnels – In Tokyo they have a high flood risk and because of that have taken a huge precaution with these flood tunnels.

Fears of Drinking Water Supplies

Here is a link from the BBC website where the flooding in the SE of England has severely damaged the water supply, meaning the contaminated water supply is un-drinkable.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/gloucestershire/6910559.stm

As in the brief it mentions adapting. The one thing we have a vast supply of in water in a flood, so if we had some kind of device that could filter the contaminated water making it drinkable, that would create drinking water for many.

Bottled drinking water

As I have said before, disasters can bring us together. 420,000 people were left without water in July 2007 in Gloucestershire. Here above is an image of how drinking water was provided to the people left without clean tap water after the flooding. Although bottled water is a good solution, is it cost effective? I feel it would be not very economical and environmentally friendly doing this. So is this the best way to provide clean drinking water in times of flooding?

Tokyo Flood Tunnels - G-Cans Project

G-Cans project widely known as Tokyo underground flood tunnels is the networks of tunnels four miles long built deep under the ground in the Tokyo suburbs. This entire infrastructure is dedicated to prevent flooding when Tokyo metropolitan area rivers are overfilling during the rain seasons or in case of typhoons.

There is gigantic water tank 177 meters long and 22.4 meters high to keep water and then dump it to Edogawa River. 78 high powered pumps can pump up 200 tons of water per second.

This is an extreme flood prevention method that is a good idea in Tokyo as flooding there is a lot more common than in the UK. To build something like that in the UK would cost billions and flooding is just not s common.

The idea of the tunnels is very relevant, having somewhere much larger than the normal drainage system to allow for massive surges of flood water keeping the surface intact.

Flooding in the UK

It is safe to say that in the UK we are not as prepared for natural disasters as than in other countries where floods etc happen on a more regular basis. The SE England has been affected by flooding over the past few years, thousands of people have been left homeless, and still are not back to their home to this date. Drinking water is a basic need and when something like flooding takes place it can be hard to find.

Disasters bring people together as there is no level of wealth. Everyone is equal. Whoever has the most expensive car is not a priority anymore. It’s back to basics. Food and water are the main thing on everybody’s mind. Water is provided in large ugly containers, people have to go to the end on the street or neighbourhood to the tank for water, they no longer can push the tap for water.

Balmoral Plastics - Micro Project

Balmoral plastics are a firm who rely on rotational moulding to achieve their products. They produce a number of products ranging from grit bins to large fuel tanks.

In this project we are looking at our climate we live in and how it is ever changing. Climate change will affect us all at some point if it has not already. It may be more than just environmental issues but could be social through to economic and ecological issues.

Key words

Climate Change

To me climate change can be more than the obvious. Pollution is the first thing that comes to mind, factories pumping fumes into the atmosphere, as well as that, cars producing high levels of co2 emissions. These are just two small examples, but they are leading to changes in the environment. Changes like drought and flooding in paces never known to be affected by these issues before. Things are being done; these issues are not going unnoticed. Cars for example are becoming more and more eco friendly, producing less and less co2 gases, with also hybrid cars starting to make an impact.

Storage

Storage is a word that’s meaning can be used across the board. We create storage space to store objects and positions, memories and thoughts, food and water. Storage has endless examples.
Storage of intangible objects

· Memory
· Thoughts
· Music
· Video
· Pictures
· Documents
· Time

The list could go on. The introduction to digital media devices have transformed the way be use and create information, with these digital devices becoming smaller and lighter. On a greater scale can these digital devices help the changing environment?
Storage of tangible objects

· Water
· Food
· Cars
· Money
· Books

As for the intangible objects the list is endless with tangible objects. Can we use any of these storage methods to help us in a time of need? Could we use the concept of an egg holding a unborn chick for something else?

Design for manufacture

In the design process there are many processes and steps to take before the final stage is reached. To help in the manufacturing stage there are many elements which should be incorporated into the design, "Efficiency" being the key. Especially with the economical situation we are in at the moment, efficient design as ever more needed.

The use of virtual prototyping is a great way to simulate what the final product will look like, before any real modelling has been started. There are no material costs and no machining costs. As I was talking above about digital devises, this may be the way that “digital” can help us in the changing climate.