When we take on a profession, it becomes a part of who we are. And that can lead to some serious oversight in terms of what we class as a strenuous routine. Builders, plumbers, gardeners and a host of other manual trades people rely on doing the same thing over and over again with little regard to their bodies.
Such a hard knock life can have unseen consequences on your fascial network and posture. These are just some of the risks you face when doing something you love:
Strained neck and upper back
Ducking, twisting and grabbing for things in difficult positions, such as those which plasterers and mechanics have to navigate on a daily basis, can have seismic effects on your neck and upper back.
Our neck and spine are supposed to move with the rest of our body when a task is being performed. Ignoring this fact will leave the muscles around the area rigid, sore and inflamed, so make sure you aren’t straining unnecessarily.
Painful tendons
Your footwear plays an important part in preventing foot pain. Tendons in particular are in danger of being overstressed, seeing as we rely on them for basic movement, balance and the more rigorous aspects of manual work.
If your tendons start to hurt, you can force too much extra pressure on the middle of the foot to make up for it, causing the ball of your appendage to ache in turn. An ill-fitting shoe can destabilise your posture without you quite knowing it, mainly down to insufficient ankle support.
Tired biceps and forceps
People in an intensive manual environment, such as a construction worker, will profess to have no qualms about carrying tools and materials around their work site. However, it’s foolhardy to assume this won’t affect you.
The fascia around our biceps and forceps has to bend and flex even when it isn’t bearing any weight. Even more pressure can make them lose their elastic quality, the sensation of which could be mistaken for the ‘rebuilding’ process of muscle tissue.
Shoulder and lower back issues
Manual workers often have to bend or carry weight on their shoulders. Even if the load seems relatively light, consistent pressure from small movements is enough to breed chronic pain.
Stooping to pick up a tool, or making your way up a set of ladders, requires the same posturing that a more intense exercise would demand – the difference is, it’ll take longer for symptoms to materialise, by which time you’ll be feeling the inflammation.
At this point, you may be wondering what can be done about all of this; after all, those involved in anything mentioned above won’t be able to cease their activity altogether. This is where Regain Pain Management steps in, providing myofascial release therapy that, along with trigger point therapy and deep tissue massage, smooths out the pent-up pressure in your tissue fibre.
Countless manual workers swear by our treatment, so discover for yourself why a sensitive, bespoke approach to your pain could be just what you need. Contact us today for an appointment at our clinic.
11th May 2020