Manage Chronic Pain at Work

Chronic pain – pain that you deal with on a day-to-day basis or one that persists for more than three months – doesn’t have to wreck your work life. Dealing with chronic pain is challenging but possible. Start by tuning in to your body’s needs through deep breathing, muscle relaxation, and tai chi. Focus your mind’s energy on minimizing pain by meditating or practicing mindfulness. Reach out to doctors, therapists, and even coworkers for extra help and support.

Steps

Relieving Your Body

1. Breathe deeply. When pain hits, your body naturally changes its breathing pace to an agitated level. Instead of giving in to this reaction, modify your breathing patterns and keep them controlled. Breathe in slowly and mentally repeat the word, “In.” Then, exhale slowly until your lungs are completed cleared and mentally say, “Out.”
2. Move around every 15 minutes or so. Standing or sitting in one place for too long can worsen pain, so take a 1-minute break every 15 minutes just to stand up, stretch out, or walk around.
   • If you’re worried about looking unproductive, give your breaks a “purpose.” Walk to the water cooler, check the fax machine, or find a reason to consult a colleague. Tell anyone who asks that taking short breaks even improves productivity!
3. Stretch, if possible. Stand up in your cubicle and reach toward the sky. Then, bend down slowly and touch your toes, if you can. Or, in the morning in bed, spend a few minutes stretching out your legs and back. Stretching helps to loosen up muscles and joints, relieving pain in the process. If you are unsure about how to do it, you can even find videos online showing short stretching sessions.
4. Get out of the office for lunch. Take a walk outside for 10 or 15 minutes. Even sitting outside on a bench and reading a book can lower your stress levels and help you to reduce your pain. Find an activity that works for you and stick with it.
5. Perform progressive muscle relaxation. This is a technique where you flex and then relax each muscle group in your body. A therapist can show you how to activate these muscles in sequence quickly and effectively. The goal of this exercise is to flush the pain out and retake control over your body.
6. Take a short Qigong or Tai Chi break. Download a few instructional videos or audio guides onto your phone and listen to these as you work your way through a quick routine during lunch or a break. Both Qigong and Tai Chi are practiced at a slow pace and require bodily control and close concentration.
   • They also don’t need a great deal of room, so you could even sit or stand at your desk for a few moments and complete a couple of moves to reduce pain.
   • When combined with meditation, both qigong and tai chi have been shown to be as effective at pain relief as prescription medication.
7. Use one-third of your strength. With chronic pain sometimes comes limited grip strength and motion. To keep pain at a minimum, try to use only 30% of your strength when gripping objects at work. That means use only about one-third of the strength you have in your hands, wrists, elbows, and shoulders.
   • The same rule applies to your range of motion, i.e. how far you can move certain joints. For instance, try to bend your spine only 30% of its maximum possible bend – be careful when picking up items from the floor, or carrying objects.

Easing Your Mind

1. Distract yourself. Select a healthy, go-to distraction that requires your full attention. When you are hit with a wave of pain, pull out that item and concentrate on it until you feel the pain ebbing. In a workplace setting, a suitable distraction could be a good book, your iPad, some music and headphones, or even adult coloring.
2. Visualize putting the pain away. Picture your pain as an object in your mind, then open a box and place it inside. You can even visualize locking it up if that helps. Other pain management visualizations include placing your pain behind a wall or imagining your pain as a light bulb that you turn off or dim.
3. Take a mindfulness meditation break. The goal here is to calm your mind and focus on a single sense, such as sight, hearing, smell, or feeling. Put all of your attention toward analyzing the sounds that you are hearing in your office and disregard everything else. You may find that your brain is so focused on this other task that the pain becomes secondary or nonexistent.
   • Another option is to do a “body scan” where you consider each part of your body in turn until you identify the pain sources. Then, you concentrate on sending all of your healing energy to those spots.
4. Go into guided imagery. Close your eyes, put in some headphones with soothing music or nature sounds, and visualize yourself at a calming location. It should be somewhere specific to your interests, such as the beach or the mountains. Do this for a few minutes minimum at least three times a week. This is a great way to cut down on pain right before a stressful event, like an important meeting.
   • If you are uncertain how to begin, a therapist can guide you through the imagery process by providing verbal cues.
5. Install a green light in your workspace. This is an experimental pain relief method, but increasing numbers of people swear by it. Get a portable green light machine (available for purchase online or through a medical or therapy supply store) and place it in your workspace, several feet away from your face. Then, turn and face your body towards it for about 45 minutes, four times a week.
   • This might be a good way to spend at least a few of your workplace lunches. Or, you can turn on the green light while you are reading or working on paperwork.
   • Light therapy has been used to treat a variety of ailments, including seasonal affective disorder (SAD). The light waves enter your eyes and stimulate your nervous and endocrine system to release positive chemicals into your bloodstream.

Changing Your Workplace Patterns

1. Accommodate your schedule to your physical needs. Working a Monday through Friday, 9 to 5 job may not be in your best interest, and working overtime may be out of the question. If your health is waning or your pain is worse when you’re working, try cutting back your hours. Work 3-4 days a week part-time instead of giving up work altogether.
   • Avoid traveling for work, if possible. Sitting on a plane or in a car for long periods can exacerbate pain, as can the pressure change when you fly.
   • If you have limited energy or strength, prioritize your tasks. Work on your most important tasks first and use your remaining energy for whatever’s left.
   • You may need to talk with a Human Resources representative to ensure you get the accommodations you need, such as more frequent breaks or an ergonomic workstation.
2. Make your workspace ergonomic. Ergonomics is the science of designing products to make them efficient and comfortable for use. Splurge on an ergonomic chair or computer keyboard for your workspace, and set up your desk to be as ergonomic as possible. Do not design your space so that you have to twist your body frequently – be able to sit in good posture with proper forward head posture. Setting up a comfortable workspace can greatly improve your pain at work.
3. Keep comfort supplies in your workplace. Learn to recognize what causes pain flare-ups for you, and have items in your workplace that alleviate your discomfort. Keep a variety of clothing around if you’re sensitive to changes in temperature, and have an ice pack or heating pad available. Have your pain medication on-hand. Be as prepared for flare-ups at work as you are at home.
4. Take your medications to minimize pain and side effects. Learn the timing of when to take your medications. Find a way to balance any side effects from your pain medicine, such as sleepiness, with taking them to maximize pain relief. This may necessitate some trial-and-error, but once you figure out a schedule, stick to it.
   • Always take your medications as directed by your healthcare professional. If your meds make you groggy, consider talking with your doctor about non-drowsy options.
5. Investigate switching jobs. When you begin to experience regular bouts of pain, sit down and assess your ability to work in your current environment. It might help to write down all of the tasks that you preform. Then, go through and see which ones will be difficult or impossible with your condition.
   • Looking over the list may also help you to formulate what you want in a new job, if you decide to start a search. For example, if lifting heavy items triggers pain, then this may be a deal breaker with any new position.

Managing Your Pain with the Help of Others

1. Enlist colleagues to exchange tasks, as needed. You may need to ask others to carry heavy objects for you, or allow yourself more frequent breaks to get off your feet. Try to establish collaborative relationships with co-workers and help each other out, as needed. For instance, offer to stay a little late to do a task for someone else if they’re willing to do your heavy lifting for you.
2. Work with a pain management professional. Many people with chronic pain work with a pain management team. They can help you learn to manage your pain through medications, strengthening exercises, and lifestyle techniques. Enlist your pain management team to help you manage your chronic pain at work.
3. See a mental health professional about your pain. Psychologists, psychiatrists, and therapists can help you learn to manage the emotional aspects of chronic pain, which can improve your work performance and comfort in the workplace. Discuss a referral to a mental health professional with your primary care provider or pain management team.
   • Mental health professionals can help you learn relaxation techniques, coping skills, and ways to deal with anxiety or depression than accompany chronic pain. They can help you to challenge your assumptions and ideas about pain and learn new ways to approach your pain issues.
   • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy may help you learn new coping techniques to deal with your pain.
4. Go back to work with the help of your doctor, if applicable. If you’re off work for a while due to pain or injury, collaborate with your doctor on how and when to return to work. Some injuries and surgeries have specific timelines and physical limitations that need to be followed to ensure proper healing. Plan to return to work gradually, with increasing levels of activity.
   • Often, your doctor can provide written instructions for your employer about what your acceptable level of activity should be. Try to work as a collaborative team with your doctor and your employer.

Tips

• Encourage your employer to look into the United States Workplace Wellness Alliance, or a similar program in your country. This agency is working to improve workplace health and wellness through health promotion and wellness programs. This can be an asset to employees with, and without, chronic pain issues.
• Each morning make a smoothie with fruits, yogurt, a pinch of black pepper, two teaspoons of turmeric, and one teaspoon of grated ginger. The turmeric acts as a natural pain reliever and the ginger and pepper increases its absorption. Some people also take turmeric supplements.

Warnings

• You may need to be patient and try multiple methods of pain relief before you see any results. But, in the end, it will be well worth your efforts.

References

See also

• Learn About Asbestos Legislation
• Avoid Germs at the Office
• Lift and Carry a Baby
• Find Alternatives to Sitting in a Desk
• Balance Work and Health
• Do Yoga at Your Computer
• Sue for Asbestos Exposure
• Put on a Cleanroom Suit
• Obtain OSHA Reports
• Measure Work Safety

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