For seven years, Gail Ennis has been spending up to three hours a day behind the wheel of her Subaru, commuting between her law office in Washington and her home on Gibson Island, Md. What she’s gotten out of the 100-mile daily round trip is sciatica – a shooting pain down one leg – and a lack of time for exercise.
“It’s just too much and getting worse every year,” Ennis said.
Besides taking time away from family, a long commute can be harmful to your health. Researchers have found that hours spent behind the wheel raise blood pressure and cause workers to get sick and stay home more often. Commuters have lower thresholds for frustration at work, suffer more headaches and chest pains, and more often display negative moods at home in the evenings. Carpool passengers deal with what they call “Mustang neck” or “Beetle neck” – the contortions they make to wedge themselves into the back seats of certain cars.
In cities where grueling commutes are a way of life, drives can be as much as an hour each way on a good day.
As a consequence, more drivers probably will suffer the health effects of a commuter lifestyle, researchers and doctors said.
“You tell someone they need to exercise or go to physical therapy, but how can they? They leave at 5 a.m. and get home at 7 or 8 p.m.,” said Robert Squillante, an orthopedic surgeon in Fredericksburg, Va., who has treated patients for back pain and other commuting-related problems.
Constant road vibrations and sitting in the same position for a long time are bad for the neck and spine, he said, and puts special pressure on the bottom disc in the lower back, the one most likely to deteriorate over the years.
