Is Your Job a Pain in the Neck? How and Why Your Neck Is ...

Is Your Job a Pain in the Neck? How and Why Your Neck Is Vulnerable at Work

tired of studying

Occupation-related injuries, or musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), are extremely common. While an astounding amount of research has been collected on the subject, many people don?t realize how easily their bodies can be affected by almost any type of work. While low back injuries are the most common work-related MSDs, the neck is typically the second most common. The neck is vulnerable to injury in even more jobs than is the low back and can be harder to detect. However, on-site remedies appear to work rather quickly. Here we?ll discuss neck injuries and the factors that contribute to them.

Neck injuries come in many forms, some of which are easy to pinpoint, and some that need a little detective work. Here is what happens: muscles in the neck are already working to hold the head up all day. Factor in daily stress and movements, and the majority of the population has tight neck muscles before any occupational considerations are even made. When repetitive or forceful movements are required of the neck, these tight muscles can either be pulled beyond their capabilities or contract to a point of pinching something else. If a muscle is stretched beyond its limits ? which diminish as the muscle becomes tighter ? the muscles, ligaments, and tendons can tear, resulting in a sprain or strain. The more you use a muscle, the tighter it becomes; the tighter it is, the easier it is to injure. Additionally, tight neck muscles can impinge nerves or blood supplies that run through there, causing a variety of ailments including: headaches, numbness, tingling, and pain felt through the neck, shoulder, arm, and hand. A common MSD and cumulative trauma disorder here is shoulder-neck-strain-syndrome (SNSS). This can be felt in the neck, shoulder, or both, and often mimics other disorders like carpal tunnel syndrome.

The specific jobs that require movement of the neck are too many to list. It should be noted, however, that everyone from assembly line workers to cash register operators to persons using bifocals are included in the research on neck MSDs. Several movements have been found to have a significant relationship with neck MSDs:

• Repetitive work activities ? repetitive or frequently different head positions, or repeated arm/shoulder movements affecting the trapezius. (This muscle covers part of the back, top of the shoulders, and back of the neck. It lifts and retracts the shoulder as well as extends and laterally flexes the neck.)
• Forceful work or heavy loads -arm or hand movements that are forceful or place significant pressure on or to the neck (carrying a heavy load on a shoulder; lifting with arms.) Tension neck syndrome is a common result of this kind of movement, likely because of the physical stress placed on the trapezius and local neck muscles and also decreased blood flow in the area.
• Extreme or static postures ? postures requiring either exaggerated or continuous neck or shoulder flexion. This is the category where bifocal wearers and cash register operators are at risk.

Job duties ranging from heavy lifting to sitting at a desk create undue stress on the neck. Ultimately, the more unnatural or repetitive a movement, the more a muscle is fatigued and therefore vulnerable to injury. The good news, though, is that in these studies, when ergonomic improvements were made, the pain and risk of injury was significantly reduced in a short period of time. The changes made included varying the workers? tasks, adjusting heights of monitors and keyboards, and introducing tools (shoulder cradle for a telephone) amongst other things. The fact that these simple changes were successful is incredibly important. Completely eliminating neck movements from any job is impossible, and time lost to injury is costly to both employer and employee. For such a common MSD, knowing that short and long-term effects of neck movements can be so easily and greatly reduced is good news, indeed.

Carol Olin is Vice President of Americarts USA, a manufacturer of low cost motorized carts and platform carts used for hospital transporting, hospitality and industrial. Americart USA features high quality carts price to compete with imported products. Carol has been in the material transport equipment industry for over 11 years.

Source: http://www.womenfavor.com/health-and-fitness/ergonomics/is-your-job-a-pain-in-the-neck-how-and-why-your-neck-is-vulnerable-at-work.html

revolutionary road rv the black keys medicine carrie fisher planet hollywood las vegas troy