Presenteeism is costing the US economy around ten times as much as absenteeism. A Global Corporate Challenge report acknowledges that employees are absent from the workplace for approximately 4 working days of the year, but admit to being unproductive when they do attend for an average of 57.5 days. This problem is known as presenteeism – when employees attend the workplace without being fully capable of carrying out their duties, often due to chronic pain or ongoing illness.
If you’re experiencing chronic pain while working full-time, then try a multi-modal approach to managing your symptoms and improving your productivity in the workplace.
The Benefits Of A Multimodal Strategy
By tackling pain management from a number of angles, you’ll have several options to help you cope with time spent at work on a daily basis. Instead of being reliant solely on painkillers to help you get through the day, you can also arm yourself with cognitive techniques to address anxiety as well as incorporating physical exercises to ease any discomfort that builds up.
Be Proactive In Your Communication
With chronic pain placing an annual strain on the US economy of $560 to $635bn in terms of lost productivity and healthcare, it’s understandable that workers may be anxious about admitting the scope of their symptoms to an employer. Yet, it is essential that you’re honest about your condition so that they can assist you to perform to the best of your ability and benefit financially from continuing to work.  It may be possible for you to work from home or arrangements can be made to modify your existing work space.
Tackling Pain Management With Ergonomics
Depending on the nature of your pain, you may find that adapting your posture within the work environment can improve your symptoms. For example, if you have lower-back pain, you may find a sit-stand desk to be of benefit, and the layout of your computer equipment should be positioned correctly. The screen should be at eye level, while the keyboard should be facing down and slightly away from you.
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Frequent Rest
Regular breaks are essential, particularly if you find that the pain builds up as the day goes on. As a minimum, you should take a short five-minute break every two hours. However, if you feel that you’re in pain after just thirty minutes, then speak to your manager to see if you can stretch your legs after this period of time. If extra breaks are what you need to be in less pain and increase your productivity, then it’s likely the company will see the benefit.
Now that you’ve got some ideas of how to manage chronic pain in the workplace, speak to your healthcare provider for some suggestions related to your specific condition. Make sure that you include physical, mental and logistic points to create your multi-modal approach to pain management.
