Why do I hurt?

Being in practice since  2001, I have seen just about every type of common spinal injury. I have found that the person that has a desk job, has as many complaints and hurts as much as the person with a difficult manual labor type of job. I have found that a more important factor is the repetitive nature that the job requires. It doesn’t seem to matter if it is a easy job or a hard one, the same motions, positions and postures that we are required to endure for 8 hours a day 5 days a week can wear on us. I really became aware of this when a patient with a desk job came in with some guys that worked in the gas/oil drilling platforms, and had the same complaints. Obviously one job was harder than the other yet they both had severe complaints. Some of the similar complaints were back pain, leg pain, hand and leg numbness/tingling. Both of these groups shared hypertonicity, paraspinal trigger points, spinal stiffness, lack of flexibility and tenderness during posterior to anterior spinous process palpation. Normally it didn’t take long to make good progress in resolving their symptoms, but I was interested in making longer term progress and relief of symptoms.

I have found that these activities incorporated into the work place can have a big impact on how they feel daily.

#1 Change positions often. Adjust your chair, key board, monitor for part of the day. Stand up a few mins each hour and move around a little in each direction- flexion, extension, rotation, lateral bending. #2 Become self aware of how you are functioning throughout the day while lifting, reaching, bending and standing. Pay attention to any small feelings you are having- tingling, pins and needles, weakness or anything that just doesn’t feel quite right. #3 Avoid jerking on heavy objects, leaning over pulling on objects with a full body jerk is a good way to get the “catch” in your neck, shoulders and lower back.

Use the opportunity when you are not hurting to become proactive in your stretching routine. This has a protective mechanism, in that you are more flexible and have a greater range of motion that may prevent a more significant injury should you fall or have trauma. Getting adjusted by your chiropractor can also help prevent some injuries as well. When you are able to move and the muscles, soft tissues, joints and nerves are functioning well they are less susceptible to injury. If you have any questions about these topics I would invite you to schedule a consultation and speak with the doctor about it at no charge.