Back Pain Keeping You From Your Beer?

Brewers, Distributors and Drinkers – Take note.

 

Portland, Maine understands beer. According to Forbes.com, Portland has the greatest concentration of craft breweries than anywhere else in the country. That’s right, Portland is #1.

Becoming #1 though was earned on the backs of brewers, distributors and drinkers here in Southern Maine.

 

What kind of injuries to brewery workers have?

Back pain, shoulder pain, neck pain, knee pain, hip pain, slipped discs, disc herniations, meniscus tears in the knee, ACL tears, rotator cuff injuries and a host of other problems associated with long hours, pushing, pulling and working hard. While it may seem that these breweries in Portland couldn’t fail, they are all working their tails off.

 

How to prevent injuries if you work in a brewery?

 

Stretch and warm up before work. (makes you less vulnerable to injury)

 

Stretch and cool down after work. (makes you less vulnerable to soreness and injury later)

 

Lift what you can handle, get help with everything else.

 

Push, pull and roll kegs carefully and consciously to avoid a mishap.

 

Don’t slip. Slipping while moving equipment or supplies can be a low back disaster.

 

In the event that you do injure yourself what should you do? (Watch THIS!)

If you are a beer drinker with back pain and can’t get to the brewery WATCH THIS!

 

Research suggests that if your first point of contact after an injury is a surgeon, the likelihood of surgery is 42.7%. If your first point of contact is a chiropractor, the chance of surgery for the work related injury is 1.5%.

 

Every situation, every injury, is slightly different from person to person. The best answer when you have a problem is to ask an expert.

 

~Dr. Lou