Pay Prompt Heed To Ergonomic Problems

Diane Elswick spends 90 percent of her workday at a desk - mostly typing on a computer.

That’s why the pain in her back, which used to ache all the way from her neck down to her tailbone, made sitting at that desk an excruciating experience.

“I was trying to constantly move,” said Elswick, an administrative secretary at Boulder Community Hospital. “I couldn’t get my muscles to relax. They were constantly spasming. I had one day where my tailbone hurt so badly, I couldn’t believe it. I thought I was going to have to go to the emergency room.”

Elswick tried physical therapy and got only short-term help. As soon as she returned to her desk, the pain flared up again. That’s when she found Jody Vigil, a physical therapist with Boulder Community Hospital’s Corporate Health program. It turned out that one of Elswick’s main problems was ergonomics - in other words, how her work station was set up.

“Two-and-a-half years ago when I started this position, I came into the job with a sensitive back and they bought me this wonderful chair,” Elswick says. “I thought, ‘Well, that was it.’ I thought everything was OK because I had this wonderful chair.” But a good chair doesn’t necessarily mean good body mechanics.

Vigil visited Elswick’s work site and made a few simple suggestions: Adjust your chair, order a footrest, change the height of your computer monitor.

Elswick no longer is in pain.

It doesn’t matter what your job involves - typing, lifting or talking on the telephone - everyone needs to think about ergonomics.

“I think the general advice is sit up straight, stay strong, stay active - that sort of common-sense advice,” says Rachel Katz, a physical therapist with A Gentle Touch in Boulder.

Many work-related injuries result from doing the same thing over and over, commonly called cumulative trauma disorders. Repetitive motions can affect the body’s soft tissues - muscles, tendons and nerves. The back and wrists are the biggest problem spots.

“We see a lot of neck pain in people who spend a lot of time looking down to either analyze reports or write. And if the monitor on their computer is too low, they have to forward bend their neck,” says Vigil.

Sometimes, Vigil says, her clients’ problems result from standing on their feet most of the day.

Signs of a problem include: swelling or muscle fatigue that doesn’t go away even after a break, muscle aches, tingling or numbness, or waking up with a prickly feeling at night, like when your foot is asleep.

Part of Vigil’s job is to visit her clients’ work sites so she can get a feel for potential problems: Does their chair hit them in the right spot? Are they sitting too far from the keyboard, stressing their arms and shoulders? Do they wear shoes that cushion the pressure of standing all day?

“I evaluate the job and make recommendations that will fit the work station to the employee, versus the employee trying to fit to the work station, which is what leads to problems,” Vigil says. “It’s really interesting work, because I can find myself anywhere from a 911 police dispatch center to the weld shop at Micro Motion. The risk factors that you’re looking at in any of these work sites is primarily postural. I look for awkward postures, repetition, force, vibration, extreme range of temperatures.”

For years, physical therapists have been on the problem-solving side of work-related injuries. But the trend seems to be moving more toward prevention, says Forrest Walker, a physical therapist with ALTA Physical Therapy, P.C. in Boulder. More companies are asking professionals to assess their work sites for potential problems - before employees actually are in trouble.

“Ergonomics should be for prevention,” he says. “Employers need to try and use ergonomics when designing work spaces and job sites ahead of time.

“A lot of times a person is hurt, we fix them and then they have to go back to work,” which could mean reinjury if the problem isn’t solved.

The best advice for employees, experts agree, is to listen to your body and don’t put off getting help when there’s a problem. As with most treasures, your body will last longer if you treat it better, Katz says.

“Whether you get fixed depends on the severity of the problem and how early you get treatment,” Katz says.

“A lot of people endure their problem for way too long and then it’s harder to (treat) once it’s so severe,” Katz says.

xxxx