If you are an employer, you want nothing more than to help your team stay healthy. As an employee, you need to stay healthy to maintain your performance and your paycheque. With potential health issues from IBS through to stress, there are conditions you need to be aware of and understand how to combat.
Here is a guide for those looking to stay well and help others keep healthy in the workplace.
Carpel Tunnel Syndrome (CTS)
CTS is a common issue in the office and is a result of working at computer desks for long periods. Carpel Tunnel Syndrome is a pressure on the median nerve in the wrist. This is the nerve that provides feeling and movement in parts of the hand. Therefore, CTS results in numbness, tingling, weakness and more.
To overcome CTS, you need to undertake physiotherapy. To prevent the impact of CTS, you should use a cushion that holds your wrist in a better, more ergonomic position.
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
IBS causes cramping, abdominal pain, gas, bloating, as well as diarrhoea and constipation. It is partly a result of our modern diet. However, the stress of the workplace is commonly believed to contribute to the impacts of IBS. Managing your diet, lifestyle and levels of stress will help to manage your IBS.
There are many problem foods that you can avoid, but you also need to reduce your experience of excess stress. Therefore, balancing work with exercise and relaxation will help to alleviate symptoms.
Mental Health Difficulties
Connected to digestive issues are the mental health issues that employees face. The level of anxiety and depression in society seems to be rising, which might be a consequence of the increased pressure of life. However, it might also be a result of acceptance, an understanding that it is reasonable to feel mental ill-health if you are continually exhausted or exposed to traumatic events.
The cure for mental ill-health is complicated and is dependent on individual circumstances. Prevention is about balance. Like with IBS, you need to work, live, exercise and relax in equal measure to allow your mind to recuperate.
Lower-Back Pain
For employers, lower back pain and back pain in general causes a significant issue in the workplace. Even in offices, lower-back pain is a significant issue. Experts suggest the increase in back pain is a result of our sedentary lifestyle. In short, we sit down all day, slumped at a computer. Therefore, prevention is about your posture and exercise.
The cure might be physiotherapy or acupuncture. It might require you to undertake activities periodically throughout the day, avoiding a stationary position for long periods.
Colon Cancer
Potentially a more severe impact of our sedentary lifestyle is an increase in colon cancer. Experts note that people who work in a job that involves a lot of sitting down results in a 44% increase in the risk of colon cancer.
As with IBS, the best way to manage is with changes in your lifestyle and diet. You need to eat a lot of green leafy vegetables, specifically as a means of decreasing your chances.
Infections
When people are held together in rooms, sitting close by each other at work, chances are you are going to pass viruses and bacteria between each other. Although there are jobs that appear dirty, in fact, the office is one of the most contagious environments. Germs are pretty rampant on keyboards and on your mouse. The cafeteria is full of microbes.
In short, keeping employees healthy at work is about a strong policy of cleaning thoroughly, keeping windows open and air flowing and allow natural light into the office. As an employee, you should keep your work area clear of food and use hand sanitiser.
Headaches
Continuous use of computers has multiple health issues. Significantly, eye strain can result in headaches. Staring at computers can also cause a sore neck, which can also result in problems.
Such complaints might seem like minor ailments and should not result in time off work. However, a headache can be debilitating and make it impossible to think. It will also reduce your productivity in the workplace, as you won’t be able to perform at your best. Consequently, you need to take precautions, such as using a screen filter, changing your focus and balancing your work and your life.
Summary
As an employee, we have a responsibility to ourselves. We not only need to look after our health because we need to be available to work but because it leads to a more contented life. Equally, as an employer, we want our workers to be productive, but we should also care and want our people to be well.