For K. Pandi Murugan, 29, an employee of a food delivery app who rides a bike for about 200 km in the city every day, bad roads affect him more than ever before. “Though bad roads are not new to me, as a delivery man for the past three months, I have suffered multiple bruises after falls due to sub-standard roads,” he said.
He attributed many of his falls to rain as “roads become the worst place to be on when it rains”. Small portions of road stretches that were free of potholes or patchworks meant a few minutes of joy, he added.
“People in the age group of 20—40 suffer the most due to bad roads,” said J. Sri Saravanan, Chief of the Department of Neurosurgery, Government Rajaji Hospital. Road sense must be imbibed in two-wheeler users. “They are more prone to whiplash injuries and disc prolapses due to rapid head movements when riding on bumpy and irregular roads,” he said.
According to Road Traffic Accidents statistics of the GRH, around 400 people with head injuries and around 70 with spine injuries were admitted to the hospital in May, he said.
Prolonged irrational driving, coupled with bumpy roads, would severely affect cervical spine (neck) and lead to permanent damage that started with severe pain and numbness in fingers and feet and ended with the arrest of motor capacity of the body, Dr. Sri Saravanan said.
He said while driving a four-wheeler he used a cervical collar to protect his neck from suffering damage due to bumpy roads. “Repeated jolting of the neck – the only mobile part as the sitting posture keeps the lumbar (lower back) part of the spine intact – is bound to get damaged,” he added.
M. Selvaraj, who drives autorickshaw for 40 years, said negotiating pothole-ridden roads had become a way of life. “I drive the auto from 8 a.m. to 11.30 p.m. Bad roads give me pain in my neck, knees and spine, and my vehicle gets damaged easily too,” he said.
“Multiple patchworks on certain stretches make driving extremely difficult, often leading to drivers losing control over the vehicles,” he lamented.
“Regular exercises, especially for hip and lumbar, will help strengthen muscles, thereby bones, and it will help reduce pain largely,” said K. Selvamuthukumaran, senior consultant and Head of the Department of Neurosurgery, Meenakshi Mission Hospital and Research Centre.
Exercising for 15 minutes every day would help one lead a quality life, Dr. Selvamuthukumaran said.
People must swiftly take medical help if pain intensified, said Dr. Sri Saravanan.
Wearing seatbelts or helmets and being conscious of speed limit were essential to ensure safe travel and good health, they added.
