You love your job, co-workers are great, salary and benefits meet all your financial needs but … along comes unexpectedly frozen shoulder and enormous pain, limitations and complications. You were not planning on this serious bump in your career path but unfortunately its here to stay, at least for awhile. How do you cope when you are fearful that your daily productivity at work is impaired by serious, non-stop pain?
It will be a difficult challenge no doubt—I know because my own experience with frozen shoulder tested every aspect of my body, mind and spirit. The fact remained that despite my personal struggles with diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation my responsibilities at work remained the same. Any option of requesting a medical leave was out of the question, or so it seemed at the time. I needed the steady income to meet monthly expenses and continued to work even though I was in constant pain.
I tried desperately to hide my health problems from my boss and co-worker but eventually the exhausting pain, sleepless nights and negative reactions to medications revealed serious physical and mental problems. I looked like death warmed over and there was no hiding the difficulty I was having performing simple tasks at work. Actually, my work as a paralegal in a law office made my symptoms worse and impaired the healing progress significantly. Repetitive computer and desk work were non-stop irritations to my shoulder, arm, neck and back. In retrospect, I am certain that my healing could have been accelerated if I had taken time off work to heal. I encourage you to carefully evaluate your circumstances and weigh if the money is worth it.
So you are still working everyday…what can you do to cope? Embrace the following suggestions…they work.
- BE PROACTIVE. Begin by taking a proactive role in decisions regarding your frozen shoulder diagnosis, treatment and plan for healing. Many self-help techniques will help you manage the pain, regain range of motion and reduce loss of wages at work. Find a good stretching program. Not only will proper stretching help release the adhesions that develop but they will help reduce the possibility of frozen shoulder transferring to the opposite side of the body. (Yes, unfortunately this occurs frequently.)
- DO NOT WORK THRU LUNCH. Take your lunchtime break. A full hour or even 30 minutes is essential, You need that break away from the physical and mental stressors. Stress impairs the healing process and you will eventually require additional therapy to counteract the side effects.
- HAVE OPEN DIAGALOGUE WITH YOUR BOSS. Discuss job share possibilities, part-time employment, work at home options with your boss. The sooner you can manage pain and regain range of motion, the sooner you will return to your productive self. Working a home where you can easily apply ice for pain, perform intra-day stretches could be part of your best chances for quick recovery.
- DO NOT DELAY-GET THERAPY AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. Putting off therapy because you can’t take the time or cannot afford it will be a big mistake! Over-protecting the injured arm may result in additional adhesions. Get a stretching exercise plan to do at home-the sooner the better.
- IMPROVE YOUR DIET- GET ADEQUATE SLEEP. To better function at work, make sure you are eating a healthy diet. Find out what foods help reduce inflammation and pain. Stop eating junk foods that impair the body’s healing process. Get to bed at a reasonable time. Avoid unnecessary household tasks that irritate your shoulder. Physical stress and overload will only accelerate the pain and inflammation, and disrupt sleep patterns.
