My upper back hurts! and my volunteer update.

[Night Elf]

So with my supervisor out for 6 weeks, I've been put in charge of our department at the thrift store. In fact, they are even paying me while she's gone! I wanted this to become a paying job and it has temporarily at least. So that's exciting. When my supervisor gets back, I'm going to drop back down to 2 hours a day. It seems that I can last 2 hours feeling fine and then my back starts hurting and for the rest of my time I'm there, another 2 hours, I'm in pain and keep having to sit down and stretch. I bought a posture brace hoping that it would keep me standing straight and not put so much strain on my upper back. It did help a little. However, I had a chiropractic visit that same day I first wore the brace and my doctor didn't like it. He said it would do more harm in the long run and instead I should be doing the back exercises he gave to me. I was embarrassed to tell him I threw out the 2nd sheet of exercises he gave to me. I had one sheet and did the exercises for a week then decided I didn't want to do them because I wasn't feeling any stretch in my back. I'm fairly limber. Then I asked him for a 2nd sheet so I could start doing them again and lasted another week. I do not remember throwing it out but I can't find it.

My dd20 asked me if this was a good job for me since it's affecting me physically. I said I could keep up with it because after tomorrow I only have 4 more weeks to go. And I'm getting paid. And they're depending on me. They've even given me my own volunteer I'm in charge of! I'm doing super well with it. I'm still asking questions because I'm  not 100% confident but I'm finding that my answers mostly match what I'm being told after I asked the question, so that's good! I need to give myself more credit. 

I love being there. When I got there this past Tuesday I had a TON of stuff that had been donated on Friday after I left and on Saturday. I didn't think I'd make it through all of it. Having a volunteer to help was definitely a good thing. I also have a community service worker who takes direction from me. She's working in the afternoon after I've left so I just leave her notes and tell the manager what's going on so they can tell the CSW what I need. So today I got mostly caught up. All I had left were two mounds of sheets which are never ending. I've got bins of sheets that need to be folded so we'll never truly catch up with them. But that's okay because it's something I can work on when I don't have anything else to do.

So that's all. Just wanted to share. ? 

[Annie G]

Good for you! I want to encourage you that your back might improve as time goes by. It might be that tension is causing some of the discomfort and if that’s the case it might subside as you gain more confidence. Also your body might just need time to get used to being more physically active. A lot of people find that to be true when they start using their body more due to a new job or increased hours. When I worked retail most new hires were in pain for the first couple of weeks until they adjusted. 

[Night Elf]

1 hour ago, Annie G said:

Good for you! I want to encourage you that your back might improve as time goes by. It might be that tension is causing some of the discomfort and if that’s the case it might subside as you gain more confidence. Also your body might just need time to get used to being more physically active. A lot of people find that to be true when they start using their body more due to a new job or increased hours. When I worked retail most new hires were in pain for the first couple of weeks until they adjusted. 

That's exactly what my DH said. This is week 2 and I still start hurting two hours into my shift. I'm normally a couch potato who walks on the treadmill 4-5 days a week as my only form of exercise.

[Wheres Toto]

I agree with Annie, it's likely to get better with time.  I've worked retail at a few stages of my life and it's always painful in the beginning, even when I've been fairly active.  

You can also make sure you are wearing really supportive and cushioned shoes.  Most stores have concrete under the tile and they are very rough on the back.  

I'm glad to hear you are enjoying it.  It sounds like a wonderful position for you.

[Tap]

Congrats on your rising to challenge and doing so great at you new job!

If it is your upper back that hurts, make sure you pay attention to you posture while working and making sure you aren't hunching your shoulders while you work.  Stress can make you tighten your muscles and that could be causing part of your pain. Also make sure you are standing strait when you don't need to be bent over.  When you work in a field that has your arms directly in front of you, it is easy to start to roll your shoulders forward and leave them there. That will definitely cause upper back pain. I work in pharmacy and back issues are very common due to all of our work being on the counter in front of us.

Periodically stop, take a breath and let your shoulders drop and relax your arms to your sides. Roll you head and shoulders  just to move you body around a bit. Make sure you are consciously rolling your shoulders towards the back if you don't normally do that.  If you notice they were bunched up by your ears when you started (lol) then try to do it more often to retrain your body to work in a more natural relaxed state.  Since you are folding sheets you are doing more upper body work than you may be used to and it will just take some time for those muscles to build up some tone and to start doing their job. Also try to notice if you hold your breath when you are working.  That will naturally make you tense your shoulders/upper back.  If you think about you breathing, and take a deep controlled breath and exhale, try to relax your back muscles at the same time. 

Good luck in your journey!!

[Night Elf]

4 hours ago, Tap said:

Congrats on your rising to challenge and doing so great at you new job!

If it is your upper back that hurts, make sure you pay attention to you posture while working and making sure you aren't hunching your shoulders while you work.  Stress can make you tighten your muscles and that could be causing part of your pain. Also make sure you are standing strait when you don't need to be bent over.  When you work in a field that has your arms directly in front of you, it is easy to start to roll your shoulders forward and leave them there. That will definitely cause upper back pain. I work in pharmacy and back issues are very common due to all of our work being on the counter in front of us.

Periodically stop, take a breath and let your shoulders drop and relax your arms to your sides. Roll you head and shoulders  just to move you body around a bit. Make sure you are consciously rolling your shoulders towards the back if you don't normally do that.  If you notice they were bunched up by your ears when you started (lol) then try to do it more often to retrain your body to work in a more natural relaxed state.  Since you are folding sheets you are doing more upper body work than you may be used to and it will just take some time for those muscles to build up some tone and to start doing their job. Also try to notice if you hold your breath when you are working.  That will naturally make you tense your shoulders/upper back.  If you think about you breathing, and take a deep controlled breath and exhale, try to relax your back muscles at the same time. 

Good luck in your journey!!

Thanks Tap. I think I'm going to try my posture brace again even though my chiropractor thought it wasn't good. I only need to get through 4 more weeks, then my hours drop back down to 2 a day and I don't hurt in that time frame. I definitely have my shoulders bunched. I've always done that. I know I slump too. I'm working 4 days a week. I don't know if my muscles will ever get used to this type of work.