The 4 Things You Can Do to Avoid The Top Job-Related Injury
The number one job-related injury is back pain. Whether the pain is related to an acute injury, or a chronic ailment due to repetitive or static motion, back pain can have a long-lasting and life-altering impact on your health and life.
In an effort to help prevent or limit your chance of injury, there is a myriad of things you can do now to help protect yourself.
- Strengthen Your Muscles
If you have a physically demanding job, strengthening your muscles outside of work will help to protect them at work. The focus of these exercises includes strengthening your core muscles, as these muscles help to stabilize your back.
When people think of the core muscles, they tend to focus more on the abdominal muscles, but the core muscles incorporate more than just the abs. Other core muscles include your glute muscles, hip muscles, lower back muscles, and side abdominals.
Exercises that help to strengthen these muscles include deadlifts, squats, back extensions, and abductions, in addition to other abdominal exercises. When your muscles are strengthened around your back, they are able to help protect you from injury.
- Proper Lifting Techniques
The well-known adage “lift with your legs” is an essential part of helping to protect your back from injury while on the job. When you lift with your legs, you generate more momentum and strength than just lifting with your arms or back.
Your legs and glutes are among the most powerful muscles in your body; by utilizing this strength, the potential for undue stress and injury is minimized for your back.
Additionally, when lifting, it’s important not to rotate your back when moving a heavy object, as this further jeopardizes your back. Instead, it’s important to move your body as a whole to turn and then proceed to bend your knees to set the object down, instead of leaning over.
If you were to lean over with the heavy material, your back would be put at risk of not being able to withstand the weight, causing strain.
- Adding More Movement to Your Sedentary Job
What if you aren’t lifting heavy objects? Sometimes a back injury can also be related to a repetitive movement, or even a lack of movement. If this is the case, it’s important to schedule movement throughout your day to give your body a reprieve.
If you are sitting for most of the day, a good solution can be found by changing your desk to one that transitions between sitting and standing. This allows you to alternate between the two. Another option may be to stand on an ergonomic mat. By having a mat, you can create more movement while you are standing which can give relief to your feet and other muscles.
- Different Therapies and Treatments
An additional preventative measure that you can take in order to avoid back injury or related problems is to incorporate different therapies. Consider physical therapy, which would focus on the muscles that help to support your back properly, and give you different techniques and methods to support your back.
These methods can cover strength training and different stretches to give relief. Another therapy to consider is chiropractic, which aids in resetting your muscles and bones, and can be very good at treating acute injury.
Already Have Back Problems?
Workers’ compensation is an insurance that your employer typically purchases. It’s based on the idea that accidents or unforeseen circumstances happen in the workplace, and employees need protection when/if this happens.
The employee is provided with insurance that can include coverage of lost wages, medical expenses, and rehabilitation costs. In many states, chiropractic and physical therapy is provided to employees through their employer’s worker’s compensation plan. Sometimes the need for these therapies can be difficult to prove or obtain.
It’s important that if you have a job-related injury, either acute or chronic, to fight for your health. One thing you may want to consider is finding an experienced attorney to aid you in making sure that you are receiving the help that you need.
This attorney is well-trained in navigating insurance and can be your advocate, especially when you are dealing with the stress of your pain and ailing health. Although taking these preventative measures doesn’t guarantee that you will avoid injury, it provides you with a foundation of health and healing that can also benefit you in recovery.