Depending on your pain and the area of your body that it affects, the tasks and jobs you are comfortable performing may vary. You may know what everyday activities cause your pain to flare up, but have you ever considered your job and how it impacts your pain? Take a look at these tips and tricks and try to incorporate them into your current job or one you may be looking for.
Avoid Bending: This is really tough to avoid in the workplace but it may help prevent more pain. Picking up boxes, leaning over to clean up, and doing activities may cause strain to your back and other sensitive areas. When not using proper technique, bending can put stress on muscles, nerves, joints and ligaments in your back. If you must bend down, be sure to bend at the knees into a squat position or ask a coworker for help.
Take Frequent Breaks: A fair amount of jobs are office jobs that require long periods sitting at a desk. Sitting for too long can cause strain on the back. If you spend your days at a desk, try your best to get up and walk around or do some stretches. Even just a 5 minute walking break, or walking meeting with an associate, can get the blood flowing.
Choose Your Shifts Carefully: Lack of sleep can be a contributing factor to pain increases. Avoid graveyard shifts and hours that might disrupt your sleep pattern. Sleep gives your body time to mend itself and a graveyard shift may contribute to your body feeling out of whack.
Adjust Your Work Environment: Do you spend most of the time standing, walking up and down flights of stairs, or making quick and sudden movements? Those can all contribute to your pain. If you sit at a desk, evaluate your desk set up and adjust your keyboard, height of your computer, and even add a pillow to your chair if you need more support. By making small changes to your desk set up, you may see significant changes in your pain levels throughout the day. If you need outside advice, consider looking into speaking with an ergonomics specialist to recommend effective changes.
These tips and tricks may significantly impact your job and the way that you go about doing it. Even making some small changes can positively affect your body. If you choose to try some of them, see if you can tell a difference.
Recovia is a functional flex-care program that aims to maximize recovery for individuals suffering from chronic pain, injury, or dependency. The mission is to provide a compassionate, comprehensive, cost effective, and individualized functional rehabilitation program. For more information, please contact us at 480-712-4600 or visit our information page.
The advice and information provided herein is for educational purposes only and should not be used for the diagnosis or treatment of any medical condition. A licensed medical professional should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions. Links to other sites are provided for information only -- they do not constitute endorsements of those other sites.
