Career Advice

dmm2018

Hi I'm hoping this is in the right thread but i recently got some office experience in town over the summer. I liked the work and found it engaging however within a day or two of starting i got severe lower back pain. It got extremely debilitating to the point where i had to give the job up and go back to my old job as a teacher. The ergonomics specialist was not around for another while. Maybe it is a case of that i'm not used to more sedentary work but Can this be managed? My posture was fine, but i was really sore and numb after a day's work. I was anxious going in to the job so maybe this might have not helped things. Perhaps i should have stuck with it but i was afraid of causing any long term damage to myself. How should i proceed going forward? Can i work around this?

OMM 0000

Did you have back pains before this?

I remember when I was a teenager, I got a job in a bar. My back hurt the first few days. Then it was fine.

I guess my back wasn't use to being in a standing position all day.

dmm2018

OMM 0000 wrote: »

Did you have back pains before this?

I remember when I was a teenager, I got a job in a bar. My back hurt the first few days. Then it was fine.

I guess my back wasn't use to being in a standing position all day.

I never had back pains before this but then again I’ve never had to sit for six hours a day just wondering how common this is and do you get used to it over time

OMM 0000

I think you would get used to it.

It's incredibly unlikely the issue is your spine.

Could you try strengthening your back?

beauf

Back pain in from sitting all day is probably very common if you have a weak core or some other issue it might aggravate it. Have you seen a physio.

CPTM

Many companies allow you to have a standing desk if you want. It's becoming increasingly popular to have a desk which easily switches between sitting and standing position. If you're a good employee, this shouldn't be a problem to get organised for you.

dmm2018

OMM 0000 wrote: »

I think you would get used to it.

It's incredibly unlikely the issue is your spine.

Could you try strengthening your back?

I already do strength work in the gym and i do a good bit of cardio so my overall fitness is quite good

dmm2018

Just wondering is this a common problem for people when making the transition into an office job that involves quite a bit of sitting. Maybe its just a case of my body got a bit of a shock from having to sit for so long and i need to give it more time to get used to it.

dmm2018

CPTM wrote: »

Many companies allow you to have a standing desk if you want. It's becoming increasingly popular to have a desk which easily switches between sitting and standing position. If you're a good employee, this shouldn't be a problem to get organised for you.

Would it be mainly progressive companies that offer this? I think the standing/sitting option would probably be much better for me

beauf

dmm2018 wrote: »

I already do strength work in the gym and i do a good bit of cardio so my overall fitness is quite good

Core is very specific. Unless you target it.

s7ryf3925pivug

Might be from improper form while doing the strength work in the gym. Definitely talk to a physio.

CPTM

dmm2018 wrote: »

Would it be mainly progressive companies that offer this? I think the standing/sitting option would probably be much better for me

I've seen it a lot in the banks in the IFSC. They wouldn't be known as being progressive. Obviously the Google's and Facebook's would, but I think if you ask anywhere these days they would sort you out, and certainly if you had a doc's note. I feel like it's more an employee's market these days, you can demand a bit more especially if it's something as simple as this.