Editor’s Note: Injury prevention and wellness handouts are an effective (and inexpensive) way to educate and motivate employees to use good work practices and take care of their bodies.
Scroll to the bottom of this post for the free Wellness Handout PDF file.
Elbow Injury Prevention
“Tennis Elbow” and “Golfer’s Elbow” are common terms for soft tissue inflammation disorders of the elbow.
The medical terms typically used for these disorders are lateral and medial epicondylitis respectively.
Each day we use the muscles and tendons that originate at the elbow to perform various upper extremity tasks. The physical stress and strain to the elbow muscles and tendons can produce microscopic wear and fatigue to these tendons and muscles. This is completely normal.
As long as the amount of fatigue is lower than the body’s ability to recover, the elbow soft tissues will remain healthy.
But too much strain and fatigue, coupled with too little repair , can lead to an inflammation disorder of the elbow.
Lifestyle Causes of Musculoskeletal Disorders
Preventing musculoskeletal disorders happens both at work and at home. Employees must take responsibility and do their part.
Healthier, more active employees are at greatly reduced risk for developing MSDs. Here are some of the poor health habits that put your employees at risk:
- Dehydration: Healthy muscles are comprised of at least 70% water. Dehydration causes muscle fatigue, strain, tendonitis, and other disorders of the movement system. Soda pop is not water, it’s liquid junk.
- Poor Nutrition: Eating too many “empty” calories that don’t contain the nutrients our body needs is a primary cause of injuries and disorders of the movement system. Tobacco contains toxins that increase inflammation.
- Inflammation: Inflammation causes many lifestyle-related disorders, including heart disease and movement system disorders. Too much sugar and fat within our diet can contribute to inflammation.
- Fatigue: Adequate amounts of rest and sleep are very important ingredients for our health.
- Poor Fitness: Poor levels of physical fitness increases the risk of disease and injury.
Prevent Elbow Injuries at Work
A strong ergonomics program coupled with employees properly warming up and using good body mechanics will greatly reduce the risk of MSDs in the workplace.
- Ergonomics: Ergonomics is about working smarter! An ergonomics improvement process is part of management’s commitment to maximize efficiency and to limit worker fatigue and discomfort.
- Proper warm-up and body mechanics: Proper warm-up and body mechanics will reduce daily fatigue and give you more energy left over at the end of the day! We are ALL athletes in life, so we need to warm-up like athletes to improve our performance and to reduce risk of injury. We should also plan to work smarter… not harder! Proper body mechanics should always be used to avoid excessive fatigue and injury.
Elbow Injury Prevention Handout
Educated decisions and behaviors require education. Use this free employee handout to educate and enable your employees to take care of their bodies and reduce the risk of MSDs and elbow injuries.
Elbow Injury Prevention Handout (PDF)
