By Elizabeth ADENUGA
The World Safety Organisation (WSO) has advised young people not to carry heavy load in order not to overstrain the ligaments of their neck and joints when they grow old.
TBI Africa said that the Deputy Director of WSO, Dr Okunola Olusola, gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Lagos.
According to him, those who are able to bear the weightiness, take tramadol as stimulant to protect their bone and spine.
“But they do not know that stimulant does not protect the bone and spine.
“As they age, the degenerative effect of those weight on the bone, spine, ankle, waist begin to obviously come up.
“For the men, their hormone, that is, the testosterone and the estrogen begin to come down showing signs of tiredness and injury from overload.
“Likewise the hormone effect for the women begin to reduce because of menopause.
“All these happen because the bones at every joint had suffered pressures, hence, the manifestation of the wounds.
“For as long as the person grow older and the hormone level drops, so will the pains stay,’’ Olusola said
He said if one must carry heavy loads, it should be in bit or with the help of another person or get a wheel barrow to convey the items.
According to him, there are also techniques for bending down to lift a thing.
He urged people to always ensure their back were erect and not bent whenever they wanted to lift a thing from the ground, adding that doing so will cause less pains to the spine.
The safety expert therefore urged companies with labourers doing strenuous jobs such as this, to train them on the proper ways to carry heavy load.
He said: “If a man is weighing 70kg, that person has no business carrying a 50kg load because it’s going to put pressure on him.
“By the time he is 50 years, he will be in pains instead of enjoying his old age.
“Likewise, women, as they bend to lift the load and put on their head, the pressure on their neck and the vertebral column now increases.
“When they grow older, they will be needing neck collar to support the neck because the bones are collapsing.”
