Time For A New Dance Partner?

“You can’t keep dancing with the devil and ask why you’re still in hell” - Unknown.

This is a favourite quote of mine and it often comes to mind when I am working with my clients to assist them to take back control of their pain at work. Often when I listen to their stories, similar themes keep coming up. They tell of their experience of pain whilst working, I ask them what they do about it and the responses I get include medications, massage, chiropractor, physiotherapist, etc. but then they all say the same thing after a couple of days the pain is back to where it was before or worse. And what is worse is the pain is not just impacting on them at work, it creeps into other areas of their lives too.

I see my clients stuck in this same old pain cycle, unable to escape the pain despite their best efforts. What I don’t often hear is recognition of what the underlying cause of their pain is and I see very little action to address this. Ergonomic equipment is not a magical solution, so buying expensive pieces of equipment is not going to solve the issues of your pain whilst working, if you do nothing to address the underlying cause. All too often I hear from clients that a new chair will solve their issues of back pain. However, even the fanciest, most fan dangled chair is not going to solve your problems if you continue to sit all day…

What I most see in my clients suffering with work related pain is unhealthy work habits, behaviours and postures. Working for hours and hours on end, poor work set-up, not taking breaks and inactivity during the workday. When we explore aggravating factors, a light bulb seems to come on. Their actions to date have been merely addressing the symptoms, what I help clients do is get to the core of this pain and implement strategies to address them.

To truly get to the core of your work related pain there are a number of factors which need to be addressed, first and foremost is behavioural change. Recognising that the way you are working is doing you harm (yes… pain) and taking active steps to change this behaviour. Implementing active work strategies and improving posture – it can be done. As well as addressing the set-up of your workstation. All these components need to be addressed as a whole to assist you in taking back control of your work related pain.

Your experience of pain at work will not change if you are unwilling to change the way you work. So, the question I ask you is: Are you going to keep dancing with the devil and ask why you’re still in hell? Or are ready to take action, find a new dance partner and learn some new moves?

Here’s to your Work Health Wellness.

Cheers, Cath

P.S. Ready to learn a new dance and take back control of your pain while working? Then we need to chat! Click here to arrange your FREE consult!

P.P.S. Want a FREE copy of the How to Manage Your Pain at Work Checklist? Get yours here by clicking here.