Anyone who works in an Aurora office knows that one of the most important features of the office is the break room and, more specifically, the coffee maker. Before starting a day on the job, many Aurora employees will have had one or more cups of coffee and, now, there is evidence that suggests that coffee is an important tool in blocking the lower-back pain that is common among office workers.
As more people shift to working in an office setting and in front of a computer, there is a greater need to design workspaces in a way that will minimize pain and discomfort to the employee. Because many jobs require Colorado workers to sit for most of the day, there has been an increase in back injuries and lower-back pain, some of which can get so severe that an employee may no longer be able to work and requires workers’ compensation to cover the costs of his or her lost wages.
A team of researchers recently completed a study in which they split a group of 50 office workers into two groups. The first group was given one cup of coffee and then told to sit at their computers with the group that had not been given coffee. Within 30 minutes, the group that had not been given coffee began to develop pain in their legs, neck and back, while those that had coffee did not experience any discomfort.
Scientists believe that the caffeine within coffee acts as an analgesic, dulling the pain. More specifically, small doses of caffeine will stimulate the receptors that reduce pain, making caffeinated employees less likely to be pained by the aches and pains of office work. It would appear that caffeinated teas would have similar effects, but researchers did not confirm this with their research.
Source: The Nordic Page, “Morning Coffee Blocks Back Pain,” Sept. 10, 2012
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