Health and Wellness
How To Advocate for Your Spinal Health in a Healthcare Setting: Strategies from Dr. Brandon Claflin
Healthcare workers form the backbone of the medical industry, but when considering their own vertebrae, they often fall silent and learn to live with chronic and sometimes debilitating pain. Years of being on their feet, helping move immobile patients, and slumping over desks can lead to poor spine health that is never addressed.
If you’re working in the healthcare industry and beginning to notice the effects on your spine and neck, the time to take action is now. According to Dr. Brandon Claflin of Oklahoma Interventional Spine & Pain, advocating for your spinal health in a healthcare setting is not only important, it’s vital to your entire well-being.
Here, he shares his insights on why it is important, and how to make sure your spine is safe at work.
Why Is Spine Health Important
There’s a reason why the idiom in the first sentence of this article makes sense to us. The backbone of the body is quite literally the main support structure that keeps us upright. That alone is enough to make a person want to advocate for their spinal health, but there are other reasons why the health of your spine is a major deal.
Spine health helps…
- Protect your spinal cord
- Give your body structure and shape
- Allow you to move and bend and is critical to your ability to walk, run, sit, and stand
Issues with your spine inevitably lead to additional issues with movement, musculoskeletal health, and nerve health. Keeping your spine healthy and aligned helps protect your body and prevent injury.
What Is Being Done to Advocate for Spine Health?
We know that spinal health has been on the back burner for several decades. Now, we are finally gaining some traction in bringing attention to the subject. Making spinal health a consideration for people of all ages is a major topic.
National initiatives to protect spinal health are currently working with healthcare professionals and facilities to make spinal care a priority. These organizations also petition insurance carriers to make spinal care treatment and prevention therapies accessible to more people.
Even though policies are catching up, we need to first understand our roles in advocating for our spinal health, especially as healthcare workers.
Why Are Healthcare Workers More at Risk?
As a healthcare worker, you’re already familiar with the physicality required for your job. Whether you are walking from patient room to patient room on your feet all day, lifting heavy equipment or patients, or sitting at a desk finishing your charting, your spinal health often takes a backseat.
Your back hurts, and there’s a reason why. A recent meta-analysis found that lower back pain amongst healthcare personnel is exceedingly common. Numerous factors place healthcare workers at risk of back pain. Making preventive spinal health therapies available to healthcare workers helps keep them pain free.
Although we have the data to support the need for better spinal health management in healthcare settings, you may find you don’t have immediate access to it. Being your own spinal care advocate is essential for keeping your spine healthy.
How To Advocate for Your Spinal Health
Advocating for spinal health may seem like a tall task, but it really boils down to asking for reasonable resources that your employer likely doesn’t know you need but will be happy to provide to you. A little goes a long way in protecting your spinal health, and advocating can be easier than you think.
Here are three ways you can advocate for a healthy spine at work:
1. As for About Ergonomic Furniture
Some healthcare facilities have ergonomic furniture and workstations already, but if your office doesn’t, ask for an upgrade. Devices like anti-fatigue mats, adjustable desks, and ergonomic chairs can make a huge difference in how you align your spine when seated. It also can affect the amount of pressure on your spine when standing. Plus, they usually don’t cost your office a significant amount of money.
2. Learn About Your Benefits
Some insurance policies cover therapies like chiropractic care, pain management, and other methods of helping alleviate spinal pain. Find out what your policy covers and utilize the tools you have. If you are allowed ten visits to a chiropractor per quarter, use them. If you need a referral to see a pain management specialist, talk to your primary care physician to get the process started.
Your office may also offer perks like massages, acupuncture, or other therapies. Ask your HR representative what is available to you.
3. Petition for Better Breaks
Your breakroom should give you a respite during your shift. If it doesn’t, it’s not really effective. Petition for better seating, optimal lighting, and a safe environment that allows you to get the break you deserve.
If you’re on your feet all day, asking for a footstool in the breakroom isn’t a frivolous request. Neither is a comfortable chair or the removal of obstacles (like boxes of supplies) that could pose a fall risk.
Work With Less Pain
Your spinal health is significant to your entire well-being, and as a healthcare worker, your spine is at higher risk of developing pain than other professions. While we wait for policies and care guidelines to catch up, you can advocate for the health of your spine at work.
Oftentimes, an office manager doesn’t change something because they are simply unaware of the need for change. Be the voice your office needs by advocating for better breaks, a healthier work environment, and access to better, spine-benefitting practices. Take care of your spine, and it will take care of you so you can continue to care for others.
Sources:
Advocacy | National Spine Health Foundation
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