Polodoc: Lifehack – Motion is Lotion

Dr.med. Andreas Krüger is a Swiss board orthopaedic and trauma surgeon in Zurich, who specialises in knee and shoulder surgery. Andi is a second generation of tournament doctors for equine sports, known as Polodoc since 2013

Lifehack – Motion is Lotion

From the office to the pitch

Every polo player knows that feeling when the lower back is sore and asks for some attention. Three million years ago, mankind started to stand up and walk in an upright position. Since the desktop computer moved in, many people changed this main standing position back to a sitting work posture. The majority of us nowadays do mental work but also physical labour is executed in the sitting position. Many people with a mandatory sedentary work style seek for compensation in their leisure time. With polo, these ‘normal’ sitting habits may generate some extra load to the lower back due to ‘special’ sitting habits while riding and playing in a bend forward position. In general, the lower back is the hot spot and crossing site where the forces from the upper and lower extremity meet. With little adjustments – lifehacks – you can perform better and stay out of the back trap.

Problem Inside

Desktop work, sitting in the office for long hours in a poor posture, can increase the pressure on the spine and adjunct joints. Laptop and phone use involve us hunching in a turtle-like posture with our neck and head rounding forward. This can contribute

MRI: Red Circle shoes a Lumbar spine disk disease

Hunching can create low back pain due to disk strain

to lower back pain because the discs that cushion our spinal vertebrae are strained. Additional load and strain are also affecting the lumbar spine while riding, with peak forces while galloping as well as bending the upper trunk in combination with rotation while swinging the polo stick. A combination of flexibility and muscle strength is a crucial prerequisite for doing these biomechanically demanding moves accurately – motion is lotion.

Diagnostics

Clinical examination with focus on the posture and muscle status is a good starting point. Controlling the lumbar muscles for insufficiency or imbalance is key. Even small

3D body contour analysis can detect structural alignment problems

LimbicChair® with free movement of the lower body can train autochtone back muscles

Photography by Polodoc

muscle injuries can be a major problem for pain free movement. Additional analysis of your work ergonomics and sport habits should be included. Basic radiological work up with a standing X-ray can detect structural alignment problems or higher grades of degenerative joint disease. For diagnosis of overloaded facet joint or disc problems, a high-resolution MRI of the lumbar spine is recommended to exclude compression of nerve roots from spinal cord. Focused sonographic assessment of the back muscles or facet joints can be helpful.

Recommendations

Mostly, the combination of bad working habits, poorly fitted equipment and overloading in the gym or on the horse can be the source of on-going lower back problems. With in-depth analysis and little lifehacks, a correction of these mostly workrelated issues can be resolved. With active sitting such as with a LimbicChair, stretching during the day and adjusted work-out, most problems can be avoided before they start. When lower back pain is present a full medical analysis with clinical examination and MRI should be executed. Motion is lotion.

Stretching during the day can resolve work-related back issues A LimbicChair® can encourage active sitting. LimbicChair® can also be used like a mouse or track pad for computer stearing functions

For more information on Polodoc contact Andreas Krüger at drmedkrueger@gmail.com or www.polodoc.ch

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