
Contact Us
IRELAND: +353 (0) 51 364054
UK: +44 (0)20 3695 7809
EMAIL: info@enerpower.ie
Waterford Office: Unit 24, Waterford Business Park, Cork Road, Waterford. X91 FW61.
UK Office: Unit 2, Building A, Occ Estate, 102 Vale Road, London N4 1FL
Occupational Health Physiotherapist and Ergonomist, Carol Deasy has kindly shared her knowledge on ways to prevent onset MSK issues both at work and in your everyday lives.
April 29th is national “Wellness At Work” day. It provides a great opportunity for businesses to highlight available wellbeing supports for their staff, whether they be in the workplace, working from home or adopting a hybrid-working model.
There are many ways that you are able to reduce your risk of developing a MSK condition, both in and out of the workplace environment.
Setting up your workstation correctly is a key step to the prevention of MSK issues. See some tips below on how your work station measures up:
By sitting less and moving more, you are going to increase your calorie expenditure, this will result in a reduction of excess body fat. A study discovered a link between a lower BMI, reduced risk of developing MSK symptoms and a quicker recovery period from symptoms. Try some of these out and see how easy it is to add exercise into your day:
Alternatively, why not try and fit in an Active 10 minutes; medical professionals are encouraging you to go for 3 bouts of 10 minutes of brisk walking. For a walk to qualify as brisk, you must reach a level where your heart rate increases, breathing becomes harder and your body temperature will increase. This means that your heart is having to work harder to pump oxygenated blood to the working areas, resulting in your cardiovascular system becoming stronger.
Strength training is very important for injury prevention, it improves the strength of muscles, tendons and also increases bone density. These increased strength levels help to hold the body in proper alignment, protecting the bones and joints when moving or under impact. Strengthening specific muscles also helps maintain your posture, which can help to prevent the onset of MSK issues as a result of desk based work or lifting and carrying items at work.
These terms refer to the amount of movement available at a joint e.g. the flexibility at the shoulder joint is determined by the range of motion of the arm through its permitted range of movement. Flexibility is extremely important and often overlooked when it comes to injury prevention. It helps our body maintain balance, muscles work in pairs – agonist and antagonist – to aid a joints movement. If one of these muscles flexibility is reduced then the movement of the joint is compromised, leaving you more susceptible to injury. A common example of reduced flexibility causing injury is the shoulder joint. If the chest muscles are shortened through frequent slouching at a desk, this pulls the shoulder joint forwards. If the shoulder retractors (i.e. lower traps and serratus anterior) are not strong enough to counteract this force, the joint moves forwards, affecting the mechanics of the shoulder and reducing the space in the joint, often resulting in shoulder impingement syndrome.
Using stretching techniques and mobility exercises while working can all be combined to help improve your flexibility.
Taking some time for yourself to move, stretch and strengthen your body can go a long way. Preventing the onset of MSK issues means that you can stay healthy, allowing you to enjoy everything you want to in life, playing sports with your children, going out with friends or talking the dog for long walks. All activities that can be affected by a MSK injury, make time for it now, or be prepared to take time later.
IRELAND: +353 (0) 51 364054
UK: +44 (0)20 3695 7809
EMAIL: info@enerpower.ie
Waterford Office: Unit 24, Waterford Business Park, Cork Road, Waterford. X91 FW61.
UK Office: Unit 2, Building A, Occ Estate, 102 Vale Road, London N4 1FL