Back injuries happen to celebrities and to ordinary people alike.
Such pain is sometimes the price of our common humanity, as the species homo sapiens picks up the evolutionary torch earlier carried by homo erectus.
Sometimes, of course, this back pain is due to work injuries. And age is often a factor as well.
In any case, the announcement this week that high-profile golfer Tiger Woods would miss the Masters golf tournament due to back pain is a reminder of how pervasive the problem can be.
The 38-year-old Woods underwent a surgical procedure known as a microdisectomy. The purpose was to alleviate the pain emanating from a pinched nerve in his back.
Could swinging a golf club so often with the force that Woods has always swung have caused the pinched nerve? It seems quite possible and perhaps even likely, as this press account makes clear.
In this respect, Tiger’s back injury is not unlike repetitive stress injuries (RSI) suffered by many different types of workers.
This often happens with repetitive lifting. But it isn’t only warehouse workers or furniture movers who can experience RSI injuries. Construction workers, for example, can also suffer these types of injuries, such as through repetitive hammering.
Keep in mind too that back injuries are problem that is broader than RSI. They can happen quite suddenly as well – and this can easily happen on the job in a work accident.
Whatever the exact cause of a back injury, it can clearly also result in other physical problems. After all, the body is an integrated organism and a strong spine is crucial to its proper function.
For information about our workers’ compensation practice, please visit our page on back injuries.
