Whole-body vibration and your lower back
Nicola Tik
Spend the day in a truck cab, a forklift, a tractor or a piece of plant, and your whole body is being gently shaken the entire time. Every bump, rut and engine vibration travels up through the seat and into your back. You stop noticing it after a while, but your lower back does not, and that steady jolting is a common reason it aches after long hours in the seat. A few changes to the seat and how you break up the day can cut down how much reaches you.
Whole-body vibration is the shaking that comes up through the seat when you drive or operate machinery. Your spine and the discs and muscles around it are constantly absorbing those small jolts, and over a long shift that adds up to real fatigue in the lower back. It is not one big impact, it is the endless small ones. Like vibration in the hands, the total dose matters, both how rough the ride is and how long you are in the seat, which gives you two things to work on.
A well-set-up seat is your main defence. Many plant and vehicle seats have a suspension setting you can adjust to your weight, so it soaks up the bumps properly rather than bottoming out or bouncing. It is worth checking yours is set for you, not left where the last person had it. Good lumbar support and a seat set so you can reach the controls without stretching keep your back in a supported position while it deals with the vibration. A few minutes setting it up pays off all shift.
The rougher the ride, the more vibration reaches you, so anything that smooths it helps. Slowing down over rough ground, rather than bouncing across it, makes a real difference to what your back takes. Keeping site roads and yard surfaces in reasonable shape, where that is within your control, cuts down the jolting. Well-maintained machinery, with tyres and suspension in good order, rides more smoothly too. Small choices about speed and route add up to a much gentler day for your back.
Time in the seat is the lever you often have most say over. Getting out to stretch your legs and move your back every so often, where the job allows, breaks up the exposure and lets your back recover. Standing tall, easing gently backwards, and walking a few steps undoes some of the hours of sitting and shaking. Splitting long stints with other tasks, rather than staying seated all day, shares the load. Little breaks, often, keep the back from stiffening into one shape.
If your back feels it after long hours operating, gentle movement usually helps it settle more than sitting straight back down. A walk, easing your back through a comfortable range, or a little warmth often take the edge off. Staying gently active through the evening tends to help more than stiffening up. What works varies from person to person, so it is worth seeing what settles yours.
If you would like to try a guided back stretch to unwind after a shift, VIDA has a short video you can follow at your own pace.
Your VIDA pain check-in is a good way to keep track of how your back is doing over time.