Four Tips For Preventing Stress-Related Injuries
Strain injuries can cause chronic pain and may even force you to take time off work, but they can also be preventable in some cases. Whether you're worried about back strain or whether you've had carpal tunnel in the past and want to prevent a recurrence, there are several steps you can take to reduce strain on your body and help prevent occurrences of stress-related injuries. Here are four actionable methods for reducing strain on your joints and spine and helping you keep overall stress levels low: that way, you can avoid succumbing to an injury such as carpal tunnel syndrome.
1. Posture
Your posture is an important factor in avoiding strain injuries. This is because bad posture can place excruciating stress on certain parts of your body. The more careless you are with your posture, the more likely this is to affect you. Analyze your overall body posture at several points throughout the day. Do you sit or stand up straight while at work? Do you hold your wrists straight while typing? Do you sleep in a healthy position? Use your findings to decide if you need to change any of your posture habits. Remember, changing a habit can take weeks of concerted effort, so don't give up. Set posture-check reminders for yourself, preferably annoying alarms on your phone that you won't be able to tune out.
2. Repetition
Repetition is the main cause of a repetitive strain injury. Lifestyle, work environment, temperature, and other factors can increase your risk of developing a stress-related injury, but when it comes to repetitive strain, the repeated actions are the direct culprit. So if you do a lot of repetitious movements at work, you're at a much higher risk. Try to reduce your risk by breaking up repetitious work into smaller increments, minimizing strain on your joints by wearing a brace, and taking frequent breaks to shake out some of the tension so it can't build up as quickly.
3. Exercises
Using yoga or some other stretching technique to increase general flexibility and release strain daily can be a big help. But you should also focus on the body part most at risk. For example, wrist exercises can be quick and easy, allowing you to perform them often throughout your workday. This is important if you have a job that's hard on your wrists, such as assembly line work or typing work.
4. Adjustments
Chiropractic adjustments can not only help your spine; they can optimize body alignment to relieve tension, improve function, and more. Scheduling regular chiropractic adjustments at a place like Charles C Gerleman Chiropractic Clinic is an essential technique for avoiding injuries caused by stress and strain in any part of the body.
As you can see, you're not helpless in the fight against strain, no matter how high your risk is. And although you can't change conditions in your workplace or reduce risk from other factors (such as demographic), you can make the most of what's in your control to enable your body to stay healthy.
