Work injuries
Physical therapists often treat people who have been injured on the job. Work injuries that occur on the job can be traced to a particular event or incident. A mover lifting a heavy object and experiencing sudden back pain would be a typical acute work injury that is treated in physical therapy.
Some jobs cause or contribute to chronic pain that has no particular date of onset but seems to creep up on the patient over time. Chronic pain caused by a job activity is also sometimes considered a workplace injury. An example of this kind of injury might be a lab worker who bends forward to look at microscope slides all day and develops neck pain over time,
Since many of us spend many hours each week at our jobs, physical therapists commonly treat patients who have injuries or pain that stem from their job activities. Treatment for work-related injuries varies depending on the injury, but generally involves pain control methods, manual therapy to relieve soft tissue discomfort and joint restrictions, retraining of muscles or muscle groups as needed to prevent re-injury, and training in body mechanics or posture modifications specific to the job being performed that will allow the patient to work more comfortably.