Blog-More-Than-Massage

Office workers spend an inordinate amount of their waking life at work, poring over documents, finishing reports, and chasing sales quotas. People would often think that office workers have it good, sitting all day in posh, air-conditioned work areas while those engaged in labour-intensive sectors like mining and construction have to deal with back-breaking work on a day to day basis.

That is why it often comes as a surprise that work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) have become prevalent even in the office setting. Among the injuries clustered under WMSDs are neck strain, shoulder tendinitis and bursitis, low back pain, hand and wrist tendinitis, carpal tunnel syndrome and tennis elbow.

It is not uncommon for office workers to report symptoms ranging from simple discomfort and fatigue to pain, swelling, stiffness, numbness and tingling. Computer-related tasks, general office work and lifting and carrying are among the most common reasons pinpointed by those who are injured, necessitating various types of treatments including massage therapy. Melbourne business owners and office workers should know that this is not just about getting adequate rest.

The Science of Work

Both business owners and their workers want to achieve a boost in productivity, employee morale and work quality while reducing employee turnover, tardiness and absenteeism. But before you call in a business coach, a few tweaks in the work area can pay significant dividends. This is where office ergonomics plays a significant role.

The word ergonomics often gets thrown around when discussing design, from gadgets to furniture. But what is ergonomics? Ergonomics, put simply, is all about studying how people work. Among the factors studied here are a worker’s physical and mental capacities weighed against his or her limits in the context of the work environment. Office ergonomics is an area of specialisation that focuses on the office environment.

Ergonomics means adapting the tools, equipment and even work habits to the worker and not the other around. Here are a couple of useful tips to lessen the risk of injuries in the office.

1. If your work entails talking on the phone while performing other tasks, invest in a headset so that you would not need to cradle the phone between your ear and shoulder. This will help reduce neck strain.
2. Monitors should be placed at an arm’s length, slightly below eye-level.
3. To prevent tennis elbow and carpal tunnel syndrome, the keyboard and mouse should be within easy reach. The wrists should be kept straight while the arms should be held close to the body. The hands, on the other hand, should be placed just below elbow-level.
4. Office tools that are frequently used like staplers, notepads and pens should be within easy reach to prevent straining.
5. In selecting an office chair to purchase, opt for one that provides adequate support to the spinal curves. But choosing the right chair is just part of the equation. Office chairs should be positioned correctly to allow an office worker to keep his or her feet firmly planted on the floor while keeping the thighs at a 90° angle.
6. Desks should have ample clearance at the bottom, allowing free movement of the knees and thighs. If the desk is too high, a remedy for this is to adjust chair height and the use of a stool or a stack of books to compensate. Conversely, if the desk is too low, the height can be adjusted in height through the use of blocks.

In a report published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2008 entitled National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing, the bureau estimated that about 3.2 million or one in five adult Australians will succumb to a mental illness any given year. Among the top mental illnesses included in the report are substance abuse, depression, anxiety and bipolar disorder.

In a related study conducted by the Department of Health and Ageing entitled People Living with Psychotic Illness 2010: Report on the Second Australian National Survey, it was revealed that individuals who experienced psychosis expected the following issues to follow in the next twelve months: financial issues, social isolation, unemployment and discrimination.

One accessible method to help relieve a person from stress and anxiety is getting a remedial massage. More than being a luxury, massage therapy offers several benefits. For one, it can help a person recover from soreness and tenseness felt in the muscles. It is also used to treat a variety of injuries including muscle atrophy, cramps, headaches, arthritis.

But apart from these benefits, regular massage therapy can be integrated into one’s mental hygiene regime. As the therapist kneads a person’s muscles, the nerve cell receptors are also activated, thus stimulating the release of endorphins, adrenaline, dopamine and serotonin which are associated with the feeling of happiness and wellbeing. At the same time, the presence of the stress-inducing hormone called cortisol is reduced. Regular massage treatment has also been found to have a direct effect on a person’s brain waves, particularly the alpha brain waves.

Apart from these, massage treatment is known to boost energy levels, creativity, self-esteem and the decrease of stress levels. People who suffer from stress, anxiety, insomnia, depression, addiction and obsessiveness can benefit from getting massage therapy.

Do take note that massage therapy is not meant to replace treatment by a mental health professional. Rather, it can serve as a complement to such treatments. As such, it is important to find the right massage therapist. The therapist you choose should be properly trained, fully qualified, insured and accredited by a national association. It is equally helpful if the therapist has ties with the major private health funds especially if you want to avail of rebates. Finally, and probably most important of all, your therapist can tailor-fit a massage treatment to suit your individual needs.

Book an appointment now and experience relief both from your aches and pains as well as from stress and anxiety.