World Spine Day – October 16, 2022, history, significance
Back pain is up there with some of the leading causes of disability all over the world and on October 16, thousands of people around the world celebrate and educate others about back and neck health on World Spine Day. Who here has never experienced some variant of back pain?
From the crack your back makes when you do some heavy lifting to neck pains when you sleep the wrong way; almost everyone on the planet understands the troubles of back pain. When your spine hurts, it seems as if everything hurts. World Spine Day is a day to spread the word about spine conditions, educate people or get educated on how to avoid or treat them, and get inspired to take better care of your general back and neck health.
HISTORY OF WORLD SPINE DAY
World Spine Day was initiated in 2008 by the World Federation of Chiropractic. For years, the WFC has coordinated World Spine Day together with other concerned organizations around the world to raise awareness of back pain and other spinal issues.
About 1 billion people worldwide suffer from back pain, spinal pain, and related disabilities across different age groups, genders, and races. For context, there are about 7.6 billion people on Earth. Back pain is the single biggest cause of disability on the planet and one in four adults are estimated to suffer back pain during their lives. With such eye-opening statistics, it is no wonder World Spine Day is so necessary.
Every year, a creative punny theme is selected to focus the discussions and events of the day. The theme of the first World Spine Day celebration in 2012 was “Straighten Up and Move.” In 2017, the World Federation of Chiropractic chose “Your Back in Action” as the theme of the year’s events. In 2018, it was “Love Your Spine.” In 2019, the theme was “Get Spine Active.” In 2020, it was “Back on Track.”
World Spine Day aims to raise awareness about spinal health and spine disorders among all involved stakeholders, provide a forum for ongoing discussion about the burden of spinal disorders, and promote an interdisciplinary, collaborative approach to easing the burden of spinal disorders.
This is especially important because millions of people around the world often have little awareness of or access to conventional healthcare resources to help them take care of spinal pain and disability.
WORLD SPINE DAY TIMELINE
2008
The WFC Initiates World Spine Day
The World Federation of Chiropractic comes up with the idea and coordinates events in 2008.
October 2012
The First Official World Spine Day is Held
This particular World Spine Day encourages people to “Straighten Up and Move” carefully.
October 2017
The WFC Celebrates #YourBackInAction
The theme is centered around mindful lifting, healthy activities, and posture.
October 2020
The WFC Celebrates #BackOnTrack
The themed events highlight the need to get back to back health after the events of the year.
WORLD SPINE DAY ACTIVITIES
Exercise
Exercise is important no matter what day it is, but on World Spine Day, you can engage in exercises that improve your back and neck health like hot yoga, bike riding, or just a fun run. You can work out on your own, find an event near you, or organize your own yoga class so other people enjoy the benefits of the day
Learn
On World Spine Day, there are hundreds of health fairs and workshops all over the world teaching about spine health – what to do and what not to do. Take this opportunity to learn more about your body and how you can treat it better by attending any of the World Spine Day events.
Teach
If you’re a healthcare professional, World Spine Day is the best day for you to raise awareness to everyone around you about taking care of their spine. Even if you aren’t a healthcare professional, you can be a hero and hire a professional to teach about spine health in your local community. You can even organize a context-specific health fair wherever you are — like getting a healthcare professional to teach your employees about office ergonomics. The World Federation of Chiropractic offers prizes of up to $600 to the best World Spine Day events every year.
5 INCREDIBLE FACTS ABOUT THE HUMAN SPINE
It’s flexible
The spine has over 120 muscles in it and that’s why it’s so flexible — your spine can actually bend far enough back to make 2/3 of a circle.
Your spine remembers
The spine has an excellent memory and will remember and get used to your posture — this is why it is so hard to break out of bad posture habits.
It’s strong
The spine can hold hundreds of kilograms of weight — talk about weightlifting!
We’re not so different from giraffes
It’s true, humans and giraffes have the same amount of vertebrae in their necks — that explains why necks can be flexible sometimes, especially when it comes to stretching.
Spine forms first
The spine is actually the very first bone we grow while in the womb — baby spines start forming two months after the baby is conceived.
WHY WE LOVE WORLD SPINE DAY
A quarter of us will experience spine pain
When so many people around the world stand a chance of experiencing back and spine pain, it’s a no-brainer that we need to be more aware of and educated about it. The fact that a special holiday exists to raise awareness for this already highlights its importance to people who would otherwise ignore their spine pain.
Back pain is underrated
Too many people pay little to no attention when they feel pain in their back. Many people attempt to “walk off the pain,” instead of going to a conventional healthcare source. World Spine Day forces people to see just how important spine care is.
It aids early prevention and diagnosis
In many World Spine Day events, people get to enjoy free access to healthcare professionals who can catch their symptoms early before they become disabilities. Hundreds of people have discovered they were on the brink of disability by getting a check at a World Spine Day event.
