Spending all day on your feet and in strenuous positions takes a toll on your body. Most people don't realize how much physical strain being a hairdresser involves. Between bending over to wash a client's hair and constantly lifting a blowdryer, long days on the job as a hairdresser affect your body.
Back pain is one of the biggest side effects of standing all day, hunching, and constant physical tension. Implementing different back pain prevention methods helps you minimize after-work pain and next-day ailments. Here are five ways to prevent back pain as a hairdresser.
1. Change the Height of Your Workstation
Customization allows you to alter certain items to best meet your needs and preferences. Using customizable furniture and equipment optimizes your workstation and creates ideal working conditions. Simply changing the height of your client's chair and raising your washing station also prevents back pain, minimizing the need for long hours spent hunching and contorting.
2. Invest in Ergonomic Equipment and Tools
Akin to custom workspaces, investing in ergonomic equipment further alters your workstation to benefit your needs. Ergonomic items are specially designed with psychological and physiological principles in mind. They create tools that maximize comfort and work alongside your body's structure, reducing strain and other discomforts. Using ergonomic scissors, chairs, and other essential tools prevents you from forcing yourself into uncomfortable positions. It minimizes post-work aches and pain.
3. Stretch and Exercise Regularly
Outside of work hours, stretching and exercising minimize your back pain and future ailments. Stretching releases muscles, soothing any tension. It also increases your flexibility, expanding your body's range of motion and making it more resistant to long hours of contortion. Regular exercise builds muscles, providing you with the right tools to combat work strain. The stronger your muscles, the more you can support your body, reducing excessive pressure and strain from physical activity.
4. Improve Posture and Stance
Proper posture means more than just keeping your back straight. As part of the body's natural structural design, good posture ensures you properly align your body in the most optimal way. Adequate alignment leads to less strain and reduces pain. Improving your posture and stance at work ensures you don't add any more unnecessary physical pressure on your body. This will mitigate your post-work back pain.
5. Wear Reliable and Comfy Clothes
Most salons don't require a uniform. Some only require workers to dress to impress. Although being presentable plays a key in a successful job, wearing reliable and comfortable clothes further optimizes work performance. It removes any restrictions and allows your body to relax. It gives your body access to full mobility. Wearing orthotic footwear and clothes designed to work with your body reduces strain, minimizing next-day pain. At Z-Coil Footwear, we offer women's and men's shoes for back pain, providing you with comfortable, reliable, and supportive footwear for your long work hours.
Implementing some or all of these back pain prevention methods into your daily routine as a hairdresser keeps you happy and healthy after and during work hours. With pain out of the way, workdays become more enjoyable, and you optimize your performance.