I started working in a fast food kitchen 2 weeks ago and it’s physically stressful so far. I do a lot of meal prep which includes a lot of chopping, carrying, and cleaning. Being on my feet for ~7 hours a day is slowly taking a toll on me and I really want to take preventive measures for long term problems that come with it. My right thumb is numb as I type down this post at 1am because I somehow woke up before 4:30am.
For a little background, this is my first official job where I’m being paid actual money for my work. As per usual, I can’t quit because of finances and I like my coworkers and managers so far. I just want my body to cope with it better and I’m not sure how I should go with it. I was pretty sedentary before I started working. I wear comfortable non-slip shoes with orthotics to better support my arch. I also bought a muscle rolling stick to help massage my feet and leg muscles after work. I think the compression socks I recently got isn’t doing much so I’m going to invest in some Bombas socks soon. What else can I do to prevent breaking my body doing this job?
The mats is a big thing. When I was younger I worked in a service bar making drinks for the servers at a restaurant. There was no mat in the tiny little space I stood and worked in and I noticed once I left the restaurant after a few years that one hip that I always favored when leaning on the bar waiting for drinks to come in was kind of stodgy and sore all the time, and when I stood in the morning it would feel like it was on the verge of “giving out” kind of. And this was in my early twenties that I was already feeling like parts of my body were getting worn out.
Any kind of repetitive action has the potential to do this kind of thing, and your body doesn’t always necessarily have the ability to just adapt. So it’s important to identify those work actions that are done habitually and repetitively and ensure you’re using the right equipment and techniques that will avoid repetive stress injuries.
It’s necessary to listen to your body, things like muscle soreness maybe indicate just needing time to get in working shape, but numbness and joint pain maybe require some more active forethought to stop from becoming worse issues.