Injuries related to the work environment are very common due to the repetitive nature of certain activities or the prevalence of lifting and manual handling. The advent of the office based job has also increased the sedentary lifestyles of people that choose not to do any physical activity. This can cause many issues with symptoms which vary from mild aches and pains to severe pain and disability.
Conditions related to the work environment that we regularly treat in the clinic are:
- Muscle and tendon injuries
- Low back pain
- Neck and shoulder pain
- Intervertebral disc Issues (‘slipped disc’)
- Sciatica
- Carpal tunnel syndrome
- Epicondylitis (Golfers and Tennis Elbow)
- Repetitive Strain Injury
- Overuse/Work-Related Injuries
Overuse injuries are caused by repetitive strain on the muscle bone and other connective tissues of the body. Your body can suffer from and repair minor damage to tissues from things such as contact sports or from heavy lifting at work. Tissues heal quickly and there is rarely any major discomfort whilst this occurs. Think of the stiffness and aches you get the next day after having a good session in the gym. What makes overuse injuries different is the lack of time to recover between periods of stress on the tissues involved. This results in the minor damage being compounded and building over time until it is severe enough to limit normal activity. Unfortunately, many people wait until an injury stops them doing day to day activities before seeking help.
Being proactive and caring for a minor injury allows you to adapt your activity to allow for healing, whilst continuing with work.
Overuse injuries tend to present like:
- Pain/tightness/ discomfort that is present but goes away when you warm up for your activity.
- Pain/tightness/ discomfort that is present but goes away when you warm up for your activity but returns after activity ends.
- Pain/tightness/ discomfort that becomes worse during activity, limiting your ability to work or play sport but then settles after you stop the activity.
- Pain/tightness/ discomfort that becomes worse during activity, and persists even when you are resting.
If your symptoms get worse with activity then is likely to be contributing to the injury. You should consult your Osteopath to get a diagnosis of the injury and an understanding of how it happened and what can be done to prevent it. The Osteopath can then treat you for your injuries to achieve a quick and full recovery. If untreated, the overuse injury could fall into a chronic cycle of inflammation that leaves you unable to work or play sports without pain and limitation.
An overuse or repetitive strain injury may develop from a number of things. Such as;
- Poor joint flexibility
- Muscle imbalance or weakness
- Biomechanical deficiencies or excessive movement
- Poor postural control during repetitive tasks
- Underlying pathology in the joint restricting movement
Whatever the cause, we can identify it, establish the circumstances of the overuse injury, identify contributing factors and successfully treat it. Then set a home/gym based programme to strengthen the tissues and prevent repeat episodes. We treat the person, not the condition.
We will also advise on:
- Ice/Heat treatment, to alleviate pain and reduce swelling.
- Activity modification during recovery to avoid future overuse injuries.
- Development of a rehabilitation programme to progressively return to normal activities, including work and sports participation.
- Stretching exercises to maintain and improve muscle length and flexibility.
- Strengthening exercise to stabilise joints and improve performance.Functional exercises to improve dexterity and ability to perform specific sports or work tasks.
Osteopaths have been part of many large companies’ health teams to help with in house care of their workers for injuries and preventative work. We have had a very long relationship with The West Midland Police force treating officers for injuries and work-related ailments as part of the WMP health scheme. We treat many companies that have in house medical and health schemes that allow their workforce to remain healthy and productive. Having an osteopath involved in your staff care programmes can lead to a fitter happier workforce with improved health, increased productivity and less time off through ill-health.