STAYING ACTIVE AND RETURNING TO WORK

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STAYING ACTIVE AND RETURNING TO WORK
Advice for employees What to do if you have back
ache How to stay in work.
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Dont take back pain lying down

• About 80 of us will experience back pain during
  our lives
• Some of us will get it more than once
• The people who cope best stay active, get back to
  work quickly and get on with their normal
  activities, despite the pain
• But you should see your doctor if you are worried
  about the back pain or if the pain persists or
  suddenly gets worse.

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Stay active with back pain

• Medical professionals agree that if you
• suffer from back pain, the best advice is
• to Stay Active.
• This presentation explains
• why you should stay active
• what that means and
• how you can do it

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Red Flags

• If you have any of the following symptoms
  then this advice is not for you and you should
  see your GP as soon as possible
• difficulty passing or controlling urine
• numbness around your back passage or genitals
• numbness, pins and needles, or weakness in both
  legs
• unsteadiness on your feet.

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Dont stay in bed

• Most back pain is not serious and will get better
  of its own accord
• Its bad to stay in bed
• The best treatment is to stay active
• Getting gloomy simply makes matters worse

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What does Stay Active mean?

• Back pain can be very painful.
• Rest for more than a day or two usually doesnt
  help and may prolong the pain and
• make things worse.
• Back muscles will weaken if not used

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Get back to normal activities

• Do this as soon as possible
• You will start to feel better
• Even if the pain has not completely gone
• Try simple pain relief to manage the pain

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Physical activity

• Dont leave it to chance.
• Regular physical activity will
• Help you to recover
• Get you back to work sooner
• And make it less likely that
• youll suffer in the future.

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Advice to employers

• Four tenets
• Early intervention
• Work is not harmful if properly managed
• Return to work can happen before symptoms cease
• Return to work is part of any treatment

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Steps your line manager may take

• Six element approach
• Recording sickness absence
• Keeping in contact
• Planning and undertaking workplace adjustments
• Making use of professional or other advice and
  treatment
• Agreeing and reviewing a return to work plan
• Coordinating the return to work process

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Support material
www.tso.co.uk/bookshop
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Better Backs

• For more information visit
• www.hse.gov.uk/msd/campaigns
• www.hse.gov.uk/sicknessabsence