Kerala - Pathanamthitta

‘Lifestyle ailments on the rise’

PATHANAMTHITTA: “Kerala is fast becoming a land of lifestyle ailments. Thanks to the sedentary habits, excessive driving in poor road conditions,” says S. Suresh, renowned spine surgeon.

Dr. Suresh, who has successfully carried out as many as 3,000 spine surgeries, says there is no urban-rural divide in the State in terms of occupational health hazards.

After common cold, pain in the back and neck has become the most common ailment for which people seek medical assistance in the State.

In most of the cases, backache has been diagnosed as an occupational hazard which might lead to serious complications, if left unattended. Though the pain goes away with a minimum treatment, it is found recurring in about 70 per cent of the cases.

In some cases, it leaves permanent nerve damage, if left untreated. “Though back and neck pain is not life-threatening, it is life-altering. It can rob you of your basic functions like sitting,

standing, sleeping and walking. People who suffer from back and neck problems often complain of their difficulty to find answers as to what causes their problems.”

He says youth working on computers complain of headache, shoulder pain and pain radiating to the upper limbs with associated symptoms such as stiffness, soreness and spasm of muscles.

The best way to fight backache is to understand it and seek proper medical care before it turns complicated.

A simple standing X-ray of the spine can confirm if there is an abnormal spinal curve and early detection can very well stop or slow down the progression, says Dr. Suresh.

Dr. Suresh became popular for his charity gestures in doing highly expensive and complicated spinal surgeries, especially on a few scoliosis patients at an Ernakulam slum, free of cost. Scoliois can be treated through spinal fusion by which two or more vertebrae are fused together in order to correct abnormal curves and strengthen the spine, he says.

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