World Spine Day 2020: Global Day of Action

Oct. 16, World Spine Day, is a global day of action to highlight the burden of spinal pain and disability and promote optimal spinal health. The theme for this year’s World Spine Day (#worldspineday) is “Back on Track” (#backontrack).

With back pain being the largest single cause of years lived with disability, ensuring a healthy spine is of paramount importance. We’ve often heard the phrase “movement is medicine”, and keeping your spine mobile while staying active helps maintain flexibility and prevent back pain. With over 60 joints in your spine, it’s vital that they function properly so the spine can function properly, keeping you upright and protecting your spinal cord and nerves.

The coronavirus pandemic has resulted in lockdown measures that have restricted people’s ability to undertake physical activity and keep mobile. Working from home has led to increased reports of back and neck pain. World Spine Day’s 2020 campaign will emphasize how people can get “Back on Track”, re-energize themselves with healthy spine habits and restore their activity levels.

Back pain is the largest single cause of years lived with disability. Proper prevention and ensuring a healthy
spine – made up of 24 separate vertebrae and over 60 joints – is therefore of paramount importance. Evidence
supports regular movement and activity so that the spine can function properly, keeping you upright and
protecting your spinal cord and nerves.

Spinal pain and disability can affect everyone throughout the life course, from children through to the elderly.
Whether you’re 9 or 90, spine care is important for our health and well being. While aches and pains are a
natural accompaniment to getting older, this does not mean we should stop moving — in fact, the evidence tells
us that physical activity is one of the most important ways we can look after our spines. Daily exercise and
simple measures to keep your spine functioning properly often help to prevent joints from getting creaky and
painful. This World Spine Day, let’s all commit to getting our spines Back on Track!

This World Spine Day, let’s all commit to getting our spines #backontrack! For more information, follow us on
Twitter (@world_spine_day), Instagram (@worldspineday), and Facebook. Visit worldspineday.org to find a toolkit on how you can organize a community event and learn how to become more involved.

About World Spine Day

Taking place on October 16 each year, World Spine Day has become a focus in raising awareness of back pain
and other spinal issues. With health professionals, exercise and rehabilitation experts, public health advocates,
schoolchildren and patients taking part, World Spine Day is celebrated on every continent. World Spine Day highlights the importance of spinal health and well-being. Promotion of physical activity, good posture, responsible lifting and healthy working conditions will all be featured as people are encouraged to look after their spines and stay active.

With an estimated one billion people worldwide suffering from back pain, it affects all age groups, from
children to the elderly. It is the largest single cause of disability on the planet, with one in four adults estimated
to suffer from back pain during their lives. Prevention is therefore key and this year’s World Spine Day
campaign will be encouraging people to take steps to get back on track with their spinal health.

Populations in under-served parts of the world often have no access to conventional health care resources to care for spinal pain and disability. Often, spinal pain is treated solely with anti-inflammatory medication and there are many interprofessional alternatives to explore. Dedicated spinal health professionals do not exist in many parts of the world, so education and self-help is key. Even in high-income countries, back pain afflicts many millions of people, resulting in an enormous impact on industry and the economy.

Organized by the World Federation of Chiropractic on behalf of the Global Alliance for Musculoskeletal
Health, World Spine Day has over 600 official organizational supporters worldwide. More information about
how to get involved is available at worldspineday.org, on Twitter (@world_spine_day), Instagram
(@worldspineday), and Facebook. Simply registering your support via the organization’s page helps us spread the world and keeps you in touch with the latest events occurring worldwide!