Choose Physio for National Tradies Health Month to Help You

Physio Sam McLaren reminds all Tradies that Our Team want to ensure that you prioritise the most important tool you have – YOUR BODY!

Just like an athlete can’t perform without their body, neither can you as a Tradie.

Whilst it would be unrealistic to expect that manual labour work wouldn’t come with the odd niggle here and there, in my experience, a lot of preventable pain and injury occurs in Tradies’. You tend to feel like it’s a normal part of the job.

Did you know 60% of Tradies in Australia experience pain and injury, and with the average time off work for a serious workplace injury being 5-6 weeks? With the current economic climate, that’s time off work we understand you just can’t afford.

At Gold Coast Physio & Sports Health we manage our Tradies’ work-related pain and injury with the same knowledge, care and planning that we do for our elite athletes.

Physiotherapists are not only skilled in utilising hands-on techniques to help reduce acute pain, but we also assess the way you move and your capacity to move (muscle strength and control, joint mobility, balance capability). Whilst traditional manual handling training is useful, every manual task can never be perfect, so our goal is to build the most robust body to handle whatever is thrown at it. We tailor everything to the individual, so we keep any exercise prescription to be the best ‘bang for your buck’ and make sure you can fit in our advice with any busy lifestyle.

Most injuries to Tradies occur as a result of ignoring pain and niggles, rushing at work, improvising with tools or equipment or being distracted by everyday tasks. The Australian Physiotherapy Association explains how Tradies can follow a few simple steps to help reduce the chance of injury:

Take a few minutes when you are about to start a job to think it through. Ask yourself: Is this the best way? Am I using the correct tools for the job? Do I need any help? Is it safe to proceed? If you answer yes to all these questions, get to it. If not, then change something until it is safe to finish the job
Be mindful of what else is going on in your life and how it can influence your work. Many Tradies get hand injuries when their mind is not completely on the job. We all know the dangers of not paying attention while driving—the same goes when swinging a hammer or using a rattle gun.
Seek advice from your physiotherapist as soon as you feel a niggle. The earlier you see a physiotherapist for even the smallest injury, the quicker it will get better and the less chance your work will be impacted. Your physiotherapist can also give advice on how to prevent it happening in the future.
Sometimes with long term chronic injuries such as chronic low back pain or elbow pain (i.e. Tennis Elbow) can hang around for so long you can feel that it’s just past ‘fixing’. Whilst it does take a lot less time to get on top of little niggles (my rule of thumb if it’s sore for more than a week and not improving, come in to get it checked), we can give you the reasons of why you are sore, and the plan of attack to help reduce it to a much more manageable level (or hopefully to pain-free!).
Regular remedial massage can also be a great tool to maintain soft tissue health in conjunction with mobility/exercise programs. Some weeks are just full on for the body so take advantage of our Tradie friendly late hours during the week and on Saturday’s to iron out any knots for the week ahead.