Charlotte Haye 14th September 2016

Why HGV Drivers Get Back Pain

Anyone who has travelled more than an hour in a car knows the dull ache of back pain. It’s such a relief when we can get out of the car and move around, feeling our spine stretch out and the ache vanish. However, for long distance HGV drivers, getting out for a stretch every hour isn’t all that practical, and as a result back pain is one of the main health complaints of the profession. But what is it about driving long distance that causes back pain?

The Structure Of Your Spine

spine Your spine is a long, willowy column that stretched from the base of your skull down to your coccyx in a long, mostly straight line. Along your spinal nerve are twenty-four vertebrae, each stacked on top of the other. Your vertebrae are bones, so each has a hard outer shell called the cortical bone and a soft, spongey inner bone called a cancellous bone. To stop the vertebrae rubbing and scraping each other when you move and causing damage, they are separated by soft pillows called intervertebral discs. These discs are flat, round cushions that act as shock absorbers for your spine. Each one of these discs is also completely full of fluid. Their purpose is to connect the vertebrae whilst keeping them at a safe distance to prevent injury. The most vigorously they spring their vertebrae apart, the more secure they are, creating the strong, tensile and flexible rod that can be bent double to pick up a lost sock and spring straight back up again.

Disc Dehydration

As we mentioned earlier your intervertebral discs are incredibly important, but like any part of your body they too can be damaged. The more water a disc holds the healthier it will be, making a more effective cushion. When a disc loses water it shrinks and becomes more like a section of carpet that’s been holding the furniture – all squashed and compressed. This can lead to a lot of spinal problems and can even lead to permanent disc thinning. One of the main causes of disc dehydration? Sitting down. Sitting squeezes more water from the discs, particularly those at the base of your spine, creating that lower back ache we all know. 10% of discal fluid is lost within the first 2 hours of sitting down, with more seeping out with each passing hour. The good news is that sitting correctly with your spine in an S shape (in other words, this is an excuse to slump back in your chair) can slow this process down. Taking breaks every few hours to get out of the cab and adopt the ‘squat’ position helps to rehydrate the discs by pulling the spinal sections apart, causing them to suck in fluid and plump up the discs again.

Vibrations

The other things that plays a significant role in back pain for HGV drivers is the vibrations of their vehicles. Vibrations travelling through the spine from the seat in the cab dramatically increase the rate of fluid loss from the discs, so the more your vehicle vibrates and rattles, the worse your back will be. This is a great added incentive to keep your vehicle in good condition, and often tyre pressures have a huge impact on vehicular vibrations. You could also keep a pillow handy to sit on to absorb some of the impact on the base of your spine, but this can be uncomfortable for some people.

Of course, the actual person can make the situation worse without realising it. Many drivers will jump down from their cab on breaks and bend and stretch their backs to ease out the stiffness. We can’t blame them, it feels great! But these stretching and high impact motions could actually make things worse. After a long drive your discs are heavily dehydrated, meaning they are much closer together and tightly compressed than usual. This in turn means they could rub together and makes them more brittle, so something as simple a s a nice back stretch could cause some long term damage. Instead, ease yourself out of the cab and go straight into a squat position for a few minutes to rehydrate your discs before you start stretching. Practicing spinal decompression (where you squat while holding onto the fender of your lorry for support and lean backwards) on the road will also help rehydrate the discs and prevent injury.

So there you have it – the scientific, biological reason we all get a sore, achey back after driving or travelling in a car for a few hours. You will be taught about this, how to prevent it and recognise the symptoms of back problems in some of our HGV training courses, so to find out more book your place now.

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