Pain accounts for $62B in lost productivity yearly

• Updated on: 2018-04-10
• Read original article here

April 8, 2018 7:54 am
April 8, 2018
Q: Can chiropractors help my company woes with injured workers?
A: Pain is one of the leading reasons why people are forced to miss work. It also has a major impact on an employee’s performance. A study found that pain conditions account for over $62 billion in lost productivity in the U.S. each year. Many companies are looking for ways to enhance their employees’ health to reduce pain and improve productivity. In the study, the most common health problems were allergies, neck pain, low back pain, depression, and arthritis. Employees with pain scored an average of 45 percent lower on an overall rating of physical health and 23 percent lower on a mental health score, compared to those without pain. Workers with pain were also five times more likely to report being limited in their ability to do their work.
Three of the five most common health problems reported in the survey — neck pain, back pain, and arthritis — are musculoskeletal in nature. These are conditions that can be managed very effectively by a Doctor of Chiropractic. The authors of the study believe that designing programs targeting musculoskeletal conditions will offer companies a win-win situation for all involved.
In our state, chiropractors are not commonly assigned to be the primary treating physician for the injured worker. This bodes poorly for the employer trying to get the worker back to the workplace as statistically, the chiropractor typically creates the greatest short term and long term outcomes for the worker. This is especially true when chiropractic is combined with physical therapy.
If you or an employee of yours is losing work or is out because of an injury, it makes sense to request that a chiropractor is part of the team in treating the injury and getting back to productivity. If your company’s chiropractor knows what he is doing there can be enormous money saved to the company’s bottom line while achieving better outcomes for the employee in many cases.
Trembush’s office and providers volunteer community health talks free to the public of the Morgantown area on the following topics and dates. Each speaker is a representative of The Foundation for Wellness Professionals. We can also be reached at 304-225-9355 for questions regarding this community health service if your organization is interested in wellness speakers.
If a reader would like to have access to more information , health tips and a newsletter from Dr. Trembush, log on to advantagehealthandwellness.com and log in as a member to receive this regular information.
April 8, 2018 8:46 am
April 8, 2018
What is an app?
I’m not certain, and I’m not guessing. All I know is that it belongs in our new world of electronics and is a good thing, for the most part. Actually, my knowledge of the Old World of newspaper production far outweighs today’s techniques.
When I started the use of hot metal production was a different world, and just a beginning even for me. All news copy was by typewriter. I learned to type on a Smith Corona that I got for Christmas.
The manual typewriter gave way to an electric one, which required a different touch. Copy was on newsprint paper and sent to the composing room, where it was retyped on a Line-O-Type and converted into lead copy that was inserted by hand in galleys.
These were placed in a “truck.” The words were upside down, but could be read after some study. In recent years the term “double truck” was still in use, referring to face-to-face pages. The trucks were on wheels and pushed around the composing room.
World and state news was received by teletype, which printed the news. The next step had to be converting the hole-punched ticker tape into words. This process was used for decades.
When the electronic era began I was so accustomed to the handling of copy that I was suspicious of a system without copy in hand. I soon learned to deal with copy on a television screen, mostly mistake-free. Local copy was another matter. Writers obviously make spelling errors, but they can be easily corrected.
When staff writers first began taking pictures with their hand-held devices, whatever that may be, again there was advancement in the new process.
When the process of pagination was begun, us old-timers weren’t sure of the end product, since even fewer people were handling the copy and pictures. In fact, we had been through so much change in a short period of time we were cast into another era.
I liked the change, however, knowing there was a lot more to learn about the newspaper business. I was lucky to travel and see places I never would have seen otherwise. To learn a new system I was able to travel to New York City, Boston, New Hampshire, Dallas-Fort Worth, Sacramento, Las Vegas airport, O’Hare in Chicago, and others nearby.
The New York flight was interesting, on Pilgrim Airways. We sat near the pilot, close enough for him to ask if I was warm enough. The plane traveled up through the New York Harbor, quite a trip for sightseers.
The flight to Los Vegas was chosen by TWA because Chicago’s runways were closed by the snow that kept us without sunshine for three months in the 1970s. One runway was open on the trip back to Pittsburgh from California.
During out trips to see new computer systems in operation we encountered different setups. One paper in Pennsylvania had a room full of equipment. The room was so full I was glad to get out of there to breathe.
In California a company trying to sell a system for newspaper pagination casually pointed to a machine that was about 6 feet tall. And he bragged that that computer of the future had “one gig” of memory but wasn’t ready yet.
Gosh. Some kids have hand-held devices today with 6 or 8 gigs alone.
So, what is an app? Something that allows a user to obtain special information or process. I still don’t know where the word came from. Some say Apple, and that’s almost good enough for me.
John Samsell is a columnist at large for The Dominion Post. Email him at columns@dominionpost.com.
April 8, 2018 7:57 am
April 8, 2018
While young children are more likely to be victims of poisonings than adults, steps can be taken to prevent poisonings for all ages.
Accidental poisonings are the 4th leading cause of death in the U.S., according to the CDC. Of these cases, adults account for 35 percent while children ages 2 and younger make up the highest percentage.
“Everyday household items can be harmful to both children and adults if prevention steps are not taken seriously,” said Brian LaRue, a paramedic with Mon Health EMS.
Poison prevention for children
The easiest way to prevent children from ingesting poisonous items and chemicals is to take away the opportunity for them to get their hands on it.
“You should lock up household cleaners, detergents, medications, batteries or anything that’s intended for motor vehicles like gasoline or wiper fluid so kids can’t access them,” Brian said.
Cosmetics or personal care items should also be kept out of reach of children. Basically, anything that isn’t intended to be ingested should be kept in a safe and secure location.
“Parents and adults should read warning labels carefully and adhere to them,” Brian said. “This will help prevent or reduce the chance of accidental poisonings.”
Poison prevention for adults
One of the most common types of poisoning for adults is caused by people taking medications that are not prescribed to them, according to the CDC. Brian said even if medications are prescribed for you, knowing the side effects is important.
“Adults should always read warning labels for all medications, even over-the-counter medications,” he said. “Never take more than prescribed or more than the dose recommended.”
Carbon monoxide poisoning can also be prevented by installing a detector in each sleeping area of a home. Appliances should also be kept in good condition.
Be prepared
Even with prevention steps, poisonings can happen.
Brian said everyone should have a basic knowledge of what to do when a poisoning occurs. Immediately call poison control at 800-222-2222 for expert assistance or, in severe cases call 9-1-1.
When calling poison control or 9-1-1, have information readily available that can help.
“Gather as much information as possible about the ingested substance, the age of the poisoning victim and the time the poisoning occurred,” Brian said.
This column is provided by Mon Health.
April 7, 2018 11:06 pm
April 7, 2018
MORGANTOWN — Michael Scott, the manager of the Scranton, Pa., branch of Dunder Mifflin in “The Office,” stood up in the middle of the room and at the top of his lungs screamed, “I declare bankruptcy!”
It was seconds later that Scott was informed it took a little more than that to actually declare bankruptcy.
At the going rate, it would seem all players need is a Twitter account to declare for the NBA draft and then to add seconds later that they will not be hiring an agent, which affords them the opportunity to return to school without penalty late next month.
In truth, it takes a little more than a Twitter account, as any member of a university’s compliance department will tell you.
And it is generally around this time of year that the biggest farce associated with the NCAA comes to light in this space, which we will get to in a moment.
Before it’s all said and done, nearly 100 hoops players will “declare” for a draft that has just 60 openings.
A majority of those athletes already know they are not going to be drafted well before they “declare,” and most of them are simply looking to hear from someone in the NBA on what their potential is down the road in the game of basketball.
In order to receive that info, players are afforded the opportunity to go to individual team workouts or, if invited, to partake in the annual NBA Combine, before having to make a final choice, on May 30, between staying in school or the draft.
This is where the farce comes in for the NCAA, which sets the date that allows the window of opportunity for college players.
This is also where players such as WVU’s Esa Ahmad and Sagaba Konate, who both “declared” for the draft without hiring an agent, should count their blessings they play college hoops and not college football.
The NCAA changed its policy toward underclassmen applying for the NBA draft a number of times in recent years.
At one time, the cutoff date was in June, then it was in May and then April, and now it’s back to late May, 10 days after the conclusion of the combine.
The dates for college football players applying for the NFL draft have remained unchanged and are inhumane compared to college hoops.
Football players had until Jan. 15 — a week after Alabama beat Georgia for the national title — to truly declare: Either they were in or out. The NFL Combine began Feb. 27. The draft is April 27.
Tell me why a football underclassman can’t test the waters and work out at the combine and then make a choice, say, on March 6, about his football future?
But we allow college hoops underclassmen three weeks after the season to “declare,” then give them an additional month to work out for teams and keep their fingers crossed they get an invitation to the combine before they have to make a final choice.
What did hoops players do to deserve the royalty treatment? What did college football players do to be treated like jokers?