Take the strain out of your back pain by staying active

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales ... -22721935/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

POSTMAN Moustafa Suliman knows both the pleasure and the pain of making deliveries to hundreds of homes every day.

But walking up to seven miles a day with a weighty bag of letters and eventually took its toll, as Moustafa ended up at home lying down on his bed in pain and unable to move.

Moustafa loved his work as a postie but after complaining about his back pain, the Royal Mail sent him off for a medical check where it was revealed that he was suffering from arthritis in his lower back and should be relieved of his door-to-door deliveries.

But the 44-year-old was not to be put off working for the Royal Mail and was switched to collection and sorting duties – emptying post boxes and picking up mail at post offices and commercial premises.

His new job helped him avoid the nightly pain caused by the daily house-to-house deliveries with his sack stuffed full of letters, parcels and catalogues.

Moustafa, who lives in Grangetown, Cardiff, was determined to avoid having to claim disability or sickness benefits and welcomed his new job.

But he still thinks fondly of his postman colleagues.

“The rules are that the bag must not be more than 7kg but when you are carrying that sort of weight for hours every day it gets really heavy,” he said.

“I loved my job on delivery but I do feel sorry for those that are doing it every day, especially over the Christmas period when there is real pressure to get the mail into the homes on time.

“The weather also plays a part, it can be raining, or very cold at this time of year but you have to make sure the post is delivered.”

Moustafa said that despite the pain he experienced at the start of his round, once he got moving the discomfort tended to ease off as his body warmed up.

“It was only when I stopped that it got painful and after work I’d go home couldn’t move, I’d have to lie down.”

Moustafa said he refuses to take any painkillers for the discomfort and feels much better now with his collection duties.

When Moustafa moved to Wales five years ago, he just wanted to settle down following a lifetime working throughout Europe. He had previously worked as a meter reader for British Gas and an assembly line operator for Panasonic, before he was then offered a job working for the Royal Mail.

Moustafa said that his wife Andrea, a nurse, has always urged him to keep active and not to let his back pain get the better of him and to keep moving to relieve the pain when it got too much.

He said: “I hate taking painkillers and only when the back gets too bad will I give in and take a tablet.”

Back pain affects about 80% of people in Wales during their lifetime and many will suffer more than one bout of it.

Although it is rarely serious, there is a wide range of measures people can take to manage the pain.

The Welsh Backs initiative was launched after expert opinion about back pain began to change.

In the past decade the best advice has changed from bed rest to staying active to speed recovery.

Welsh Backs is a joint initiative developed in response to Health Challenge Wales – the nation’s challenge to improve health.

It aims to reduce the physical burden faced by two thirds of the population of Wales who will at some time suffer from back pain and is based on similar initiatives in Scotland and Australia, which have successfully changed public beliefs about back pain.

For more information about managing back pain visit http://www.welshbacks.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[DGP1]

“The rules are that the bag must not be more than 7kg but when you are carrying that sort of weight for hours every day it gets really heavy,” he said.

I always thought the maximum weight was 16kg. If he was only carrying 7kg bags he must have had a lot out with him.

[Big Daz]

FFS

Can the CWU tell RML to do away with bag over shoulder deliveries once and for all and give the mbrs some bikes!!!!

Its not bloddy rocket science and still the CWU top brass ponder about weight on delivery solutions

[trythat]

FFS

Can the CWU tell RML to do away with bag over shoulder deliveries once and for all and give the mbrs some bikes!!!!

Its not bloddy rocket science and still the CWU top brass ponder about weight on delivery solutions

When I was on a walk, I preferred the golf trolley, of course using a bike or trolley adds time to the delivery, but it stopped my back from aching.

[not me]

i'd struggle to carry the bike up the stairs

[DGP1]

i'd struggle to carry the bike up the stairs

[Big Daz]

WEve got far far too many bikes at my D.O and were down sizing our bike fleet so that we have a bike for each bike deliverey a suitable number of spares and a bike for each bike duty floater.

At the moment we have a bike for every single person which gives us about 20 spare just sitting in the bike rack day after day whilst some poor soul has to struggle with a pouch over his or her shoulder.