By Celeste McLaughlin, Ergonomics Manager
People frequently tell us they’ve developed musculoskeletal disorders by pushing themselves too hard. Activities we’ve heard people blame for their injuries are computer work, playing video games, playing a guitar, crocheting, gardening, writing, painting, driving, sewing, sports, etc. These activities are not bad. What causes the injury is usually repetitive motion. Repetitive motion is one of the leading causes of injury in the United States.
A lot of us have done this at one time or another. We’ve pushed ourselves too hard to complete a project, pick up a co-worker’s slack, or do an activity we enjoy. While doing these things, we do the same movements over and over again and ignore our body’s warning signals of pain. Our body starts sending stronger and stronger warning signals until we finally pay attention. When we start paying attention we regret letting the pain get to the point it is at.
This is why we need to pay attention to our bodies. Our health should be our number one priority because without it we have nothing. A lot of times we cannot physically do as much as we want to or feel we have to. We just have to find a way to be at peace with that. Things we want to accomplish will get done eventually, it may just take longer than we would like.
