How long hours of driving can bring you to your knees, lead to major backbone issues

NEW DELHI: Thirty-six-year-old Gaurav Srivastava is a city-based sales professional, working with an MNC, who needs to travel 150km daily for work. This routine of spending hours using clutch, gear and brakes, is now costing Srivastava dear: he is facing major health issues with pain in knee joints and severe neck and back aches.

“I spend hours travelling as I need to cover different locations to meet clients. A couple of months ago, I started feeling pain in my neck and back, which I initially ignored. But it became so severe that I had to visit a doctor. As instructed, I am managing to do some exercises, but hardly have time to rest,” said Srivastava, a resident of Dwarka.

According to orthopedicians, the number of such cases has gone up ever since the Covid pandemic eased.

“We get at least 20-25 such patients daily at our OPD. The most common issues are of knee arthritis and postural problems. When a person is sitting inside the car, the lower back bears the weight of the upper body part. If someone is obese, then the load on the lower back is even greater. There is a disc that lies between two vertebrae in the spinal column. If that gets depressed, then one experiences back and knee pain,” said Dr Sankalp Jaiswal, senior orthopedician, Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital.

Dr Aashish Chaudhry, director & head orthopaedics, joint replacement & spine surgery, Aakash Healthcare, warned that sitting in the vehicle for long hours at a stretch could result in permanent backache, neck or cervical pain.

“People who drive long distances daily are more likely to develop knee stiffness or wear and tear of the knee joint. Besides, it can give rise to blood clots or, worse, varicose veins. There is a significant increase in patients complaining of upper and lower-back problems due to long-distance travel. Moreover, since people are travelling for extended durations, they find little or no time to exercise,” he said.

Among common problems are poor posture, muscle spasms, compression fractures, arthritis, osteoarthritis and knee joint strain.

“The early symptoms are tiredness and body ache, which can be treated. But, gradually, it becomes worse — to an extent that one is not able to carry out their routine activities. If neglected further, it can lead to permanent pain in neck and back. Routine physiotherapy can help if the problem is tackled at an early stage,” noted Dr Gaurav Prakash Bhardwaj, director - sports injury, joint preservation & replacement surgery, PSRI Hospital.

Dr Jaiswal added that surgery was needed in less than 10% of the cases. “For obese patients, we first recommend that they lose weight and then undergo rigorous physiotherapy. If nothing works, then certain cases are taken forward for surgery,” he said.