If you’re a tradie, you need your body to be in great shape so you can do your job. You’re always on the move, perhaps lifting, hammering, drilling, tiling, roofing, or fitting pipes.
You may well have been injured at work, either in an accident or through repeatedly straining your body. That repeated strain can hurt your back, neck, elbows, or knees.
You wouldn’t ignore a warning light on your ute so don’t ignore your body’s warning system either. If you’re in pain, get it treated, then change your behaviour to try to prevent it from happening again. A good physio can help you build strength and flexibility to recover from injury and reduce the risk of further problems.
Tradies: 4 Common Injuries and How to Prevent Them
What springs to mind when you think of a dangerous job? Lion tamer? Flying trapeze artist? Essential worker during COVID-19?
It’s perhaps not a surprise that being a tradie is a high-risk job. You’re building, wiring, plumbing. You’re dealing with machinery, electricity, gas and sharp tools. You can fall off the roof, fall into the freshly dug pit, or be trapped under something that moved at the wrong time. As if that wasn’t enough, you’re also at higher risk of skin cancer because you work outside so much.
About 30% of Australia’s workforce are tradies. That’s a bit less than a third. Yet more than half (58%) of serious claims for workers’ compensation come from this group. Workplace injuries are three times more likely to happen to tradies than to other workers.
Preventing Injuries at Work
Want to know the best way to prevent injuries at work? It starts with a different mindset.
You probably take great care of your ute and your tools. But, if you’re like most tradies, you tend to neglect your body. You ignore early warning signs of trouble, pressing on despite niggling pains until the problem becomes so big you can’t ignore it anymore.
You can’t do your job without a strong, healthy body. So take care of it. Rest where you can, get help to carry heavy loads, and see a physio if you’re experiencing pain. Don’t wait until it’s really bad – it’s much more likely to get better quickly if it’s dealt with sooner rather than later.
Injuries are more likely to happen when you’re rushing or distracted. So, when you arrive at a job, pause and think about your safety. Do you have the right tools, the right approach and the right help available?
Make sure you’re concentrating on your work. If your mind isn’t on the job, you’re more likely to hurt yourself or someone else. If distracted drivers are dangerous, then so are distracted tradies!
Lastly, warm up before you start a job with a few stretches that will improve your flexibility and reduce the risk of injury. Aim to stretch your legs, shoulders, chest, forearms and neck.
As physiotherapists, we see quite a few tradies dealing with muscle or joint injuries. Here four common types of injuries we see.
Back Pain
Back pain is the most common injury tradies experience.
Why It Happens
You use your back for almost everything you do, especially in a physically demanding job. All that lifting, pushing, pulling and twisting can strain the muscles in your lower back.
Treating It
Your back is a complex structure. Over-the-counter painkillers can ease the initial pain in your back. If the pain keeps coming back, you should see your doctor or physio. A physio can assess your movements, teach you some stretches or exercises to strengthen your back, and manipulate your spine to ease your symptoms.
Looking After It
You can protect your back by:
- Staying fit, flexible and strong
- Warming up when you arrive at a job
- Not trying to lift too much – get a mate to help or use lifting equipment
- Maintain the natural curves of your spine, especially a small curve at the bottom
- Try to avoid lifting above your head or below your waist.
Neck Pain
Your neck is a fairly delicate structure to support a load as heavy as your head.
Why It Happens
Ideally, you’d spend most of your time in a neutral posture with your ears above your shoulders, your chest open and your shoulders back. This minimises stress on your neck by balancing your head’s weight on your neck.
But you probably don’t spend most of your time like that. As a tradie, you might be craning your neck to look above you if you’re painting a ceiling, twisting to look into a confined space if you’re a plumber, or regularly looking above you if you’re working on a construction site.
And when you get home at the end of a demanding day, you may end up slouched on the couch.
The end result? Neck pain.
Treating It
You can apply a heat pack to a sore neck, get a neck massage or do some neck stretches regularly.
Looking After It
At home. you can try to sit in a better position on your sofa and adjust your sleeping position and pillows to support your neck.
Can you change your way of working to protect your neck? If there’s a way of doing your job in a better position, then go for it.
If not – if you have to look up to paint that ceiling – then take regular breaks and focus on bringing your neck back into a good position. Another option is to mix up your tasks so that you intersperse neck-straining tasks with other work where your neck is in a good position.
Elbow Pain
You probably never think about your elbows and yet you use them constantly. Each time you grip, lift, or use a tool, you’re using your elbows.
The elbow is made up of bones, muscles, ligaments (which connect bones), and tendons (which connect muscles to bone). The most common cause of elbow pain is inflammation of one or both of the elbow’s two tendons. This is called tendinitis, and it is often the result of overuse. ”
Why It Happens
Elbow pain is commonly caused by inflammation in one or both of the tendons that join muscles to bones. This is known as tendonitis. It’s often the result of overusing your hands, wrists and arms.
Treating It
If you can rest your elbow then do. If it’s hard to change what you do at work, then at least rest your elbow at home.
Heat can help to soothe your inflamed tendons so warm up a heat pack and rest your elbow on it.
Your doctor or physio may also recommend an elbow brace or suggest stretching your elbow. To do this, hold your arm out with your palm facing the floor. Use your other hand to pull your fingers back towards you. Then stretch it the other way by pulling your fingers under your arm towards your wrist.
Looking After It
Bicep curls strengthen your upper arm, which can help to take some of the load off your elbows. Your physio may also be able to suggest better ways of gripping or holding tools to protect your elbow.
Knee Pain
You think you’re on your feet all day but you’d be surprised how much time you spend on your knees. That’s especially true if you’re fitting a carpet, laying pavers or crawling into a tight spot.
Why It Happens
When you spend a lot of time kneeling, you can irritate the small fluid-filled sac (bursa) in front of your kneecap. This is officially called prepatellar bursitis, but it’s commonly known as housemaid’s knee, named after the maids who spent their time kneeling to scrub floors. Your knee may be sore, tender and swollen.
Treating It
Over-the-counter medicines can be used to relieve pain while a heat pack can also soothe your knee. Your physio can show you some exercises. If the problem persists, your doctor may use a needle to remove the fluid or inject an anti-inflammatory medicine.
Looking After It
If you’re kneeling a lot or have already had an episode of tradie’s knee (as we should probably call it now), then it’s time to use a thick foam cushion or some knee pads.
How Can The Brisbane Spine Clinic Help?
If you’re a tradie, you need a good physio. We’re here to help you maintain a strong, flexible body, to help you recover from injuries and to reduce the risk of being injured again.
At The Brisbane Spine Clinic, we blend high-quality evidence on prevention and treatment with common-sense pragmatism about what’s possible within your working environment. That means we give you advice you can actually put into practice.
We offer a range of appointment types to suit your situation. You can come and see us in the clinic, opt for telehealth, or book a home visit. Get in touch today.
