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The Manual Touch Physical Therapy

Whole Body Approach

Reclaim movement, function and life
For information, call: 847-541-7600
or email: info@themanualtouch.com
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Tips for Avoiding Back Pain and Other Injuries at Work

April 13, 2018 By Denise Schwartz Leave a Comment

Workplace Wellness StrategiesWhen you went to college, they probably didn’t teach you how to sit all day and not get back pain or carpal tunnel.

When you started your career, you probably did not learn how to use your body to avoid injury.

During your new employee orientation, they probably didn’t mention injury prevention.

In our society, it is not common practice to teach workers how to properly use their bodies to avoid injury while at work, whether standing, sitting, or moving around. 

In Physical Therapy school, a large part of our education is learning proper body mechanics. In other words, we’re taught how to use our bodies safely to avoid injuring ourselves when working with patients and then how to teach proper body mechanics to our patients. For example:

  • We learn the best posture techniques for ourselves when helping someone stand from a chair or move in bed, bend down when working with someone’s feet, or how to sit properly while using our hands on people without hurting our backs.
  • When using our hands to manipulate tissue, we learn how to keep the joints of our fingers and wrists in the best alignment, so as not to cause degeneration or injury.
  • When lifting a body part such as a leg to assess for joint range of motion or knee ligament injury, we learn to stand and use our arms/body in a way to decrease our possibility of injury.
  • We also gain a self-awareness of our own limitations when helping a patient, so we ask a colleague to help.

Workplace wellness strategies are important for everyone, not just physical therapists. As part of my commitment to community outreach, I offer a free workplace wellness presentation with tips on how to make it through the day and not get injured. The following are some of the tips I offer for people to avoid injury while at work and moving throughout their daily life:

Standing posture: How to be mindful when standing

Standing DeskWe often have to stand in lines at the store, at a social event, waiting for the train or bus, washing dishes, or at a standing desk. Maintaining good posture or alignment prevents you from irritating yourself.

  • Stand evenly over both feet, shoulder width apart, do not lean more on one hip
  • Relax shoulders by lowering your chest and do not over-pull shoulder blades back
  • Keep you abs engaged (watch this video for a neat trick)
  • Find your center of balance over your whole feet (watch this video to learn how)

Tips for using a standing desk to prevent tight hips:

  • Alternate standing/sitting throughout the day
  • Use a standing desk every 2-3 hours for 30-90 min – build up to longer times
  • Maintain good posture
  • Wear flatter shoes with support – no high heels
  • Get up every hour to hour and half to move around
  • Take a 5 min walk
  • Exercise at your desk
  • Stand on 1 leg

Good posture: How to be mindful of “sitting up”

Traditional advice from the time you were small rears its ugly head again. Whenever you’re in the seated position, try these tips to regain your posture and improve sitting comfort:

  • Place your knees lower than your hips, a wedge under can help
  • Use a lumbar support pad behind the small of your back to support the normal curvature of the spine and promotes proper posture
  • Choose a firm chair over something mushy that will compromise the position of your back
  • Keep your feet flat on the floor; do not cross your legs
  • Sitting the majority of your day will set you up for a boatload of issues as outlined in this great infographic
  • Arms at 90 degrees with desk
  • Explore different mice, wrist supported mouse pads, different keyboards

More info to keep you safe at work

  • Use stairs instead of elevators, but make sure you use proper form (learn how to climb stairs safely in this video)
  • Drink plenty of water,  as buildings are notoriously dry
  • Dehydration is common, so set a reminder to drink every hour. Common signs of dehydration include dry mouth, head achy, tired
  • Perhaps add-in an electrolyte drink such as coconut water that does not have added sweeteners
    • Use a backpack or rolling bag instead of a bag over 1 shoulder
  • Always use a headset when on the phone to prevent neck, shoulder and elbow pain
  • Use your core when opening a door – keep your elbow bent, instead of pulling door with your arm, step back in order to use your body to open the door

The 2-minute exercise routine you can do at your desk

With these exercises, if you feel pain or discomfort with any of the following exercises, re-adjust how you are doing exercise by checking your position and be sure you are using your glutes. If that doesn’t work then don’t do that particular exercise. This routine can be done as a whole or piecemeal throughout the day:

  • Raise arms overhead to side, deep breath in, breathe out as arms come down – 3-5
  • Shoulder roll: forward 3x, backward 3x
  • Hip stretches – hands on hips – you should not feel any pain or movement in your back
    • Move hips forward/backward 4x
    • Move hips side/side 4x
    • Rotate hips 4x
  • Heel raises – raise up on your toes and lower down 10x
  • Single leg balance
  • Side lunge 5x each direction
  • Squat to chair 5-10x

Denise Schwartz,  CIMT, CAFS, CFGS, Owner

Is There a Solution for Lower Back Pain?

Are you struggling with lower back pain or sciatica? Is it keeping you from doing the activities you enjoy? If so, I’d like to invite you to our FREE workshop to learn the 3 main causes and how to heal naturally.

Click here to sign up for this free monthly workshop and learn how to get your life back.

Filed Under: Back Pain & Sciatica, Chronic Pain, Health & Wellness, Physical Therapy Tagged With: back pain, chronic back pain, chronic pain, exercise, Health, hip pain, Low back pain

About Denise Schwartz

Denise Schwartz, PT, IMT, C is the owner of The Manual Touch Physical Therapy. For over 30 years, she has been helping patients reduce pain and improve quality of life using a whole body approach. Denise specializes in chronic pain, spinal conditions, running/triathlon injuries and prevention, balance/vestibular disorders, functional exercise, kinesiotaping, and various non-traditional and traditional & manual therapies. Contact Denise at denise@themanualtouch.com

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Testimonials

Denise gave me confidence that she knew what was wrong and what to do about it, and under her care I quickly felt better and am now on the road to better fitness. She has a feel for what’s causing what, and is good technically and also good at making you feel cared for.
Read More
I am especially grateful for the amazing positive effect Denise has on the days I take my mom to PT. Denise has helped my mom with her knee pain and one day, she noticed something was different. Mom had a misplaced left kneecap and Denise was able to use kinesiology tape to fix it. Denise does amazing work!
Read More
I felt much better after initial visit and even more so after the second.  I would not have believed I could see such an improvement in how I felt after only two sessions.
Read More
With improved balance by utilizing Denise’s exercises on a daily basis, I now have reduced the risk of falling and possibly fracturing a bone.  I am grateful for Denise’s expertise. If you have a balance issue I recommend a visit to Denise.
Read More
I can honestly say that Denise was the first physical therapist to listen to my story.   She has demonstrated more patience and compassion than any other therapist that I’ve ever met. For the past 8 years, I have been symptomatic with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (EDS), a rare genetic condition which affects the connective tissue throughout my body. As a result of this disorder I deal with ongoing severe acute and chronic pain and a variety of other rare overlapping conditions such as thoracic outl… Read more
Read More
I came to Denise with pain in my neck and upper back from a fall earlier this year.  In addition, I also have chronic low back pain. Denise evaluated me and went right to work giving me exercises and hands on therapy to help me. Today is my eighth session and I am happy to report that my back pain has been relieved and my neck pain is slight and so much better.
Read More
I had several issues when I began therapy at The Manual Touch.  My sacrum had rotated;  there was stiffness in the right side of the neck; and pain in the left bicep. Denise did an excellent job resolving these issues.  Besides being very knowledgeable, she is also easy to work with.  I looked forward to, and enjoyed, my sessions with her. If I need physical therapy in the future, I will definitely return to The Manual Touch.
Read More
I came in with a frozen shoulder 2 months ago. I had trouble putting coats on and had a very limited range of motion, especially to the back. After the first session, I started feeling better, and now, I don’t feel pain any more and the range of motion to the back has improved a lot as well. Thanks, Denise, for a great work.
Read More
Denise Schwartz at The Manual Touch is A GREAT Physical Therapist!  I came to her with a torn ligament and tendonitis in my foot AFTER going to 2 other well know PT chains who actually made my injuries worse. Not only did she help me heal from those injuries but actually worked on other parts of my Body to help heal those areas too. I really appreciate that she works on the whole body – after all everything is connected. She is very knowledgeable in what she does.
Read More
Thank you for treating my back injury and helping me quickly return to comfort and the activities I enjoy!  When I last injured my back and tried P.T., I treated for 7 months with none of the results you helped me achieve in a fraction of that amount of time.  I really enjoyed your personal and customized approach, and the fact that you treated other issues that were plaguing me to help me improve my movement and function.  Every time I unload the dishwasher and use the proper posture to prot… Read more
Read More

Our Mission


We believe all body systems and mental/emotional health are connected. We take a whole body approach to discover why patients are not healing and what were the initial causes of their current symptoms. 

Our mission is to use this whole body approach to help patients heal and overcome pain and limitations, resulting in improved quality of life. We also aim to promote wellness in our communities through ongoing education. 
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Testimonials

Denise gave me confidence that she knew what was wrong and what to do about it, and under her care I quickly felt better and am now on the road to better fitness. She has a feel for what’s causing what, and is good technically and also good at making… Read more
I am especially grateful for the amazing positive effect Denise has on the days I take my mom to PT. Denise has helped my mom with her knee pain and one day, she noticed something was different. Mom had a misplaced left kneecap and Denise was able to… Read more
I felt much better after initial visit and even more so after the second.  I would not have believed I could see such an improvement in how I felt after only two sessions.
With improved balance by utilizing Denise’s exercises on a daily basis, I now have reduced the risk of falling and possibly fracturing a bone.  I am grateful for Denise’s expertise. If you have a balance issue I recommend a visit to Denise.
I can honestly say that Denise was the first physical therapist to listen to my story.   She has demonstrated more patience and compassion than any other therapist that I’ve ever met. For the past 8 years, I have been symptomatic with Ehlers Danlo… Read more
I came to Denise with pain in my neck and upper back from a fall earlier this year.  In addition, I also have chronic low back pain. Denise evaluated me and went right to work giving me exercises and hands on therapy to help me. Today is my eight… Read more
I had several issues when I began therapy at The Manual Touch.  My sacrum had rotated;  there was stiffness in the right side of the neck; and pain in the left bicep. Denise did an excellent job resolving these issues.  Besides being very knowl… Read more
I came in with a frozen shoulder 2 months ago. I had trouble putting coats on and had a very limited range of motion, especially to the back. After the first session, I started feeling better, and now, I don’t feel pain any more and the range of m… Read more
Denise Schwartz at The Manual Touch is A GREAT Physical Therapist!  I came to her with a torn ligament and tendonitis in my foot AFTER going to 2 other well know PT chains who actually made my injuries worse. Not only did she help me heal from tho… Read more
Thank you for treating my back injury and helping me quickly return to comfort and the activities I enjoy!  When I last injured my back and tried P.T., I treated for 7 months with none of the results you helped me achieve in a fraction of that amoun… Read more
Read More

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The information provided on The Manual Touch Physical Therapy website is for personal and noncommercial use only. The resources and content provided should be used for educational purposes only and not as a substitute for appropriate medical care. If you are experiencing pain or discomfort please seek medical attention.