The way pain is perceived ultimately determines its severity. Our brains determine the body’s response to threats in order to protect us from further harm – similar to house’s alarm system. Given this concept, it’s easy to understand why perceptions to these threats are not uniform. There are many factors that impact an individual’s perception of pain, including cultural background, past experience, and how they were raised – to name a few. At times, the alarm system can become so sensitive that instead of alerting the body when there is “break-in”, it goes off every time a leaf blows against the house. But there are several key ways to improve pain perception (i.e. decrease the alarm’s sensitivity) on an ongoing basis – and it all starts with education. Improving pain perception In addition to education, there are three other key ways workers can improve their perception of pain and reduce injuries: aerobic exercise, sleep hygiene, and goal setting. Education – The more equipped workers are to understand where pain comes from and how to manage their perception, the more effectively that perception will improve. Aerobic exercise – Workers in good physical and mental condition perceive pain on a more level-headed basis and are also less prone to injury in the workplace. Sleep hygiene – Just as with aerobic exercise, healthy sleep habits are essential to an improved quality of life – and an improve perception of pain. Goal setting – It’s important to ensure your workers know that just because they’re in pain doesn’t mean they can’t enjoy their hobbies while also overcoming that pain. They should eventually be able to golf, play tennis, bike, or whatever else while still understanding their pain will improve. Encouraging small progression toward those activities – even if they are just small steps – helps provide a sense of control and positive progression. These four elements all contribute to an improved perception of pain. A worker who is educated, practices a healthy lifestyle, and is still able to maintain their passions away from work is ready to conquer pain in the short and long term. This is what every organization has to gain by normalizing pain across the board. Normalizing pain with your workers In order to educate your team on pain science, you first need to educate yourself. Fit For Work delivers information geared toward site safety specialists and members of leadership so they can relay simple information and examples to their workers – not just statistics and buzzwords that will have minimal impact. We help you use pain science proactively, working with people who aren’t yet injured and helping to make them more resilient in their everyday work. We help you to normalize threats for every member of your team so they’re more prepared to do their job safely and happily. What you can do There is a lot you can do to begin implementing pain science across your organization, including:
- Use words that heal, not words that harm – Deliberate and reassuring language such as “some soreness in your back” and “this will improve” helps the healing process, while frightening and drastic language such as “shooting pain” and “or else” statements only serve to harm and boost anxiety.
- Ask the worker what they think is wrong – This helps them form an understanding of the threat on their own and in turn improves their perception of the pain caused by it.
- Make your employees happy – The best way to reduce injuries in the workplace is to make your employees happy, as research has shown happy employees get hurt less and perform to a higher caliber.
We’re never going to entirely eliminate threats in the work environment, but as long as we can normalize those threats, we can reduce injuries and costs while creating a better career for our workers. The opioid impact When workers are educated on pain science and threats are appropriately normalized, injuries are reduced – and this can have a major impact on opioid use. Many workers who suffer musculoskeletal injuries end up being prescribed opioids as part of their treatment. When opioids are used in the long term, the body develops a resistance that requires larger and larger dosages, putting employees at a heightened risk of an eventual overdose. You can get ahead of this by preventing workplace injuries in the first place, utilizing pain science principles, and implementing an onsite early intervention program that can have a positive lasting impact on the opioid crisis that has reached epidemic proportions in recent years. Contact Fit For Work today to start normalizing pain within your team and to create a better working environment for your entire team.
