Pain at Work; Reducing work absence
A whopping 48% of all long and short term absence from work was due to musculoskeletal pain, (e.g. neck and back pain) in the recent CIPD and Simply Health survey 2021.
So far this year I have treated in excess of 600 people, with the vast majority complaining of neck and back pain. These issues are a direct result of sitting at the home or work desk, in most cases both, due to hybrid working. This is not to say that the expensive chair or standing desk is not working to help alleviate symptoms but we also need to look at what is causing the pain.
Postural pain
When our bodies are put under strain, trying to sustain; maintain; or perform correct posture, our muscles will get tired. This can occur when sitting or standing still, or performing an activity.
No human was made to sit for a prolonged period of time. The human body requires movement to maintain our circulatory system and our lymphatic system, important in waste removal. Our muscles also require movement via contraction and relaxation to maintain flexibility and strength.
When prolonged or repetitive activity occurs it is very common for muscles to stay in a contracted state, with little movement and certainly not our full range. Our posture becomes set within a smaller range, causing tension, pain and stiffness.
After many weeks, months or years this state becomes our norm. It becomes harder to find "correct posture" or an ideal posture - nobody is perfect! Pain then sets in when we attempt different movements, such as playing with kids or gardening, as we no longer have the movement literacy that was once available to us. Our muscles are full of tension and waste and our pain response is heightened.
How do you fix this?
Movement is always the answer. When I say movement, do not assume this is a mid-workday walk or activity that you have no time for. Movement starts with as little effort as a rotation of the wrist; a roll of the shoulder; a stretch of the legs; standing; short walks to a colleague; fill your water; and trips to the loo.
Be a fidget, try not to stay in one position for too long, move things around on your desk.
All this is positive movement.
You can of course set regular alarms on your computer to remind you to take a short break or stretch, but I'd like us to change our mentality and ingrain these little postural movements within our daily tasks, after all, we were made for moving.
Now that many workplaces are more flexible, let's take this literally and apply it to ourselves. Let us be physically flexible and enjoy moving, we can then regain energy, strength, balance and form; reducing incidence of pain and injury.
PWR can help you.
Highly qualified staff at PWR can apply movement to your body via carefully selected techniques. This takes many forms, from cellular movement of blood and nutrients via improved circulation, to easing of muscle fibres, and the mobility of joints. Using our skills to help improve these factors will help the body to heal, release stress, ease pain, improve flexibility and mobility.
Ultimately, improving our posture, movement and therefore, pain, will help us tackle the huge percentage of sick days due to musculoskeletal pain, leading to happier days at work for everyone.
