Back Pain in the Workplace
According to the Federal Office for Public Health, 1.5 million people in Switzerland suffer from back pain. That’s roughly 1 in 6 people, and back pain is often very debilitating, causing missed days of work or difficulty concentrating and functioning through the pain. The effects of back pain aren’t limited to ability to work; back pain also leads to reduction in physical activity and quality of life.
Most back pain originates from mechanical (injury to the spine, intervertebral discs, or soft tissues) or non-specific causes. By learning to modify one’s postural attitude (not only the way you hold yourself but also the way you respond to your body, environment, feelings, thoughts and gravity), there can be a reduction in pain and an improvement in all aspects of postural support (physical, mental and emotional).
Our programs include a prominent focus on body awareness, postural attitude and how one’s habits regarding postural support and muscular effort play a role in pain. In addition to showing your team how to reduce unnecessary effort in everyday actions and to sit and stand more comfortably, we also address stress. Stress is a complicating factor in back pain, as stress is felt not only in the mind and emotions, but also in the body. Stress can even be the source of back pain, as years of holding the body rigidly and responding to stressful events can cause the “fight or flight” response to settle in permanently. This restricts breathing and causes chronic tension in the body.
As our philosophy is that bite-sized changes add up to a transformation over time, we address back pain with the following steps, which are presented in creative, engaging ways in our workshops:
Awareness: in order to solve a problem, you need to be able to accurately sense what it is. Using body-mind tools, we help those affected by back pain to start to feel where, how and how much tension is being held in the body and what postural habits might be contributing to the pain.
Information: incorrect information about anatomy, posture and body alignment can have disastrous results, leading to more tension by trying to maintain an impossible-to-maintain posture. We correct these misunderstandings with accurate information and empower participants to apply it directly to their own body schemas.
Tools for release: using a highly effective body-mind method, we offer simple tools that can be applied in daily life. The power to affect change is thus in the participants’ hands, which we multiply with plenty of feedback, encouragement and hands-on help.
Follow up: learning something new is a process. By illustrating the concepts in a variety of contexts (for example, your team would have workshops on back pain, stress and body communication) instead of a single workshop that doesn’t give the opportunity for follow-up, participants can easily grasp the ideas and apply them, both in the workshop and on their own.
Our focus is on sustainable solutions, that are time-efficient and manageable in implementation for busy professionals. We have helped hundreds of individuals, both in group workshops and one-on-one, to address back pain, so your team will be in good hands with our programs.
Choosing to prioritize the wellness of your team has many benefits, both direct and indirect. Some of the benefits include:
better quality of life for the individuals
less cost for missed days of work, ergonomic equipment and other health expenses
more focus and efficiency when back pain is not a distraction
increase of employee retention due to an increase in overall employee satisfaction
more efficient and harmonious team work due to individual needs being addressed
Are you ready to get started, so your team can focus on the important work you’re doing and not the unbearable distraction of back pain? We offer a program specifically designed to target back and neck pain. Click the button below to view our wellness programs and find the right one for your team. We look forward to working with you!
