Work Injuries

Chiropractic Lower Back Pain Relief

The lower back is one of the most common areas of the body to be injured at work. Because your back works harder than any other part of your body to keep you upright, when you go to work to sit at a desk, stand, walk, or even perform manual labor for hours at a time, your back feels the strain. An injury often occurs when you forget to follow good injury prevention practices or when your body can no longer take the constant strain it’s under. For example, if your lower back isn’t conditioned for certain manual labor, or if you push your body farther than it should go, you run the risk of sustaining an injury. If you lift too much weight at once, lift something improperly, or even just exhaust your back muscles to the point of no return, your back can “give out,” ensuring that it gets the break it so desperately needs. Because of the strain it often takes for a work-related back injury to occur, you might be able to see your work injury coming if you’re paying attention to your body’s warning signs, or it could be that one accident caused your injuries.

Repetitive Stress Injury Treatment

Whether you’re lifting, sitting, standing in one place, or walking on uncomfortable ground for hours every work day, your body may be protesting long before you sustain your work injury. In fact, a repetitive stress injury could be your body’s way of telling you that it’s had enough. Although you’ll often have warning signs – small aches and pains here and there – if you ignore your body’s stress and push on, you’ll likely end up with a repetitive stress injury. These injuries can be caused by hard labor or even desk work, as they’re characterized by a habitual strain on one part of your body or another. Repetitive stress can cause an injury on its own in instances when, for example, you work a desk job and have poor lumbar support; the poor support can lead to injuries sustained while going about your daily work. However, the strain on your back caused by poor support can also leave your body weak and waiting to be injured in an accident unrelated to your usual workday habits, such as lifting something heavy that can’t be supported by your already weak back.

Workers’ Compensation Injury Treatment

Some patients worry about seeking treatment for their work injuries because they don’t know whether their injuries will qualify as work-related injuries. If you’re suffering from a repetitive stress injury, a lower back injury sustained in a work-related accident, or you feel your body growing weaker from the strain of work, get help. Don’t ignore your pain or wait for your injury to get worse; the best thing you can do when you’re injured at work is to file for workers’ compensation and seek treatment. By putting off your treatment, you make it more difficult to prove that you were injured at work or that you haven’t made your injury worse since it occurred, and this can make it more challenging to receive proper compensation.

Preventing Work-Related Injuries

Often times, you can prevent work-related injuries by following a few basic safety and injury prevention rules at work:

Lift with your legs – To avoid lower back injuries, be sure to lift heavy objects properly by bending your legs, not your back.

Proper lumbar support – You should ensure that your back has enough support when seated to relieve unnecessary strain and prevent lower back injuries.

Respect your body’s limitations – You can seriously injure yourself by taking on tasks that your body does not have the strength to achieve. Don’t attempt any heavy lifting or perform any strenuous tasks that your body is not accustomed to doing.

Keep your work area clear – Injuries can occur easily when your work station is not clear. Be sure that you can move freely without risk of falling or straining yourself to reach something you may need while at work.

Contact our St. Paul chiropractic clinic today at (651) 255-9999, and see what we can do to help with your work injury recovery.