Working in industrial or construction settings and lifting
heavy objects can frequently lead to a variety of injuries or conditions, but
work-related injuries don’t necessarily occur only in strenuous, physical jobs.
In fact, many of the diagnosed workplace injuries treated by healthcare
professionals occur in an office environment.
Approximately, two-thirds of employees spend their work days
sitting in front of a computer at a desk job. Hunching over a screen for
extended periods of time while constantly using repetitive motions of the wrist
when typing, is causing an excess amount of individuals to develop chronic
conditions such as carpal tunnel syndrome, a condition which leads to numbness
and tingling sensations in the hand and arm as a result of a pinched nerve in
the wrist, or other repetitive motion injuries.
Moreover, an unexpected accident at work like a slip-and-fall
on a wet break room floor can lead to spinal injuries, such as a herniated disc,
accompanied by symptoms of back pain.
A back injury is one of the most common work-related
injuries affecting a majority of individuals. Poor posture is often the primary
contributing factor of spinal issues among office workers. Sitting in an
improper posture for prolonged hours strains the muscles and other complex
tissues surrounding the spine, leading to pain, soreness and stiffness. Additionally,
if the individual doesn’t correct their posture over time, the spine will begin
to misalign or develop a subluxation, which can create further complications
including sciatica. Once the individual has experienced symptoms of pain and
discomfort, it’s essential for them to seek immediate medical attention for
their injuries to avoid developing chronic symptoms.
Causes & Treatments for Work Injuries
In the case that poor ergonomics at work and an improper
posture behind a computer screen are the source of the individual’s neck and
back pain, simple ergonomic techniques can be applied to help correct the situation.
Adjusting the height of the work-desk chair, using a back support and changing
the placement of the computer to where the screen can be seen without straining
the neck are several ergonomic changes that can help reduce or completely
eliminate neck and back strain.
In the case that a workplace injury caused a herniated disc,
a well-known condition which occurs when the soft center of a spinal disc
pushes through a crack in its outside casing, chiropractic care can help
restore the spine’s proper alignment. When a herniated disc compresses the
surrounding nerves, it can cause radiating or numbing pain. Depending on the
locations of the condition, the individual may even experience neck pain or
suffer from headaches.
A chiropractor offers a variety of different chiropractic
treatment techniques, most commonly spinal adjustments and manual
manipulations, according to the type of work injury and symptoms to gradually
provide relief eliminate neck and back pain as well as relieve headaches and
migraines which are common with many types of injuries and conditions. Chiropractors
focus on whole body wellness rather than only targeting the symptoms present in
an individual. Once the chiropractor has properly diagnosed the source of the
pain and discomfort, a specialized set of rehabilitation treatments will be
used along with a group of stretches and exercises to correct the issues and
strengthen the structures surrounding the affected area, ultimately speeding up
the recovery process.
When a work injury is affecting your performance, make sure
to seek immediate medical attention to receive relief from your symptoms as
soon as possible and return to your normal professional lifestyle.
Preventing Back Pain
Performance Improvements with Chiropractic and Fitness: A Client's Story
Dr. Alex Jimenez has not only helped individuals with
work-related injuries find relief from their painful symptoms, through his
chiropractic services, Dr. Jimenez has helped a variety of individuals, from
nurses to veterans. Samuel Baldwin, captain in the United States army, was
looking for the opportunity to train more when he found Push-as-Rx ®™ and he
was immediately hooked. Samuel Baldwin believes Push as Rx is different from
other gyms, with an environment where all the people and coaches are goal
setters. Samuel Baldwin's life was impacted by Push-as-Rx ®™ to become better
than ever before.
PUSH-as-Rx ®™ is leading the field with laser focus
supporting our youth sport programs. The PUSH-as-Rx ®™ System
is a sport specific athletic program designed by a strength-agility coach and
physiology doctor with a combined 40 years of experience working with extreme
athletes. At its core, the program is the multidisciplinary study of reactive
agility, body mechanics and extreme motion dynamics. Through continuous and
detailed assessments of the athletes in motion and while under direct
supervised stress loads, a clear quantitative picture of body dynamics emerges.
Exposure to the biomechanical vulnerabilities are presented to our team.
Immediately, we adjust our methods for our athletes in order to
optimize performance. This highly adaptive system with
continual dynamic adjustments has helped many of our athletes come back
faster, stronger, and ready post injury while safely minimizing recovery times.
Results demonstrate clear improved agility, speed, decreased reaction time with
greatly improved postural-torque mechanics. PUSH-as-Rx
®™ offers specialized extreme performance enhancements to our athletes no
matter the age.
By Dr. Alex Jimenez
