New CNA- How to deal with body pain

akulahawkRN, ADN, RN, EMT-P · Apr 6, 2013

Without knowing it you have stumbled into one of my areas of specialty (so to speak). Everybody's feet are different. In general, people who have flat feet tend to have knee problems because of what's called pronation. That puts a lot of stress on the knees in the wrong way. That stress can also be transmitted of the legs into the lower back and cause some really severe back pain.

Probably the easiest and best way to cure that is to find some good insoles that will give you a lot of support. I'm not necessarily going to tell you how to take care of that, rather you should probably find someone who's very good at fitting insoles in to shoes.

The end result is that you want to achieve a good anatomic alignment from your feet up to your hips that will take pressure off of the inside of your knees and relieve some pain in your hips and back. The other part of the equation is the shoes. Each type of shoe is designed for a foot that pronates, supinates, or is neutral. Stores that focus on running shoes will have people that know about which type of shoe is designed for what type of ankle movement you have. Flat feet, as I have said before, pronates severely.

Once you have found the right combination of shoes and insoles that work, you should find that the pain that you experience in your feet your legs your knees your hips in your back should decrease dramatically. After that, what you need to look at is ensuring that you have good body mechanics that minimizes stress on your spine.

emcadams · Apr 8, 2013

Make sure you have 2-3 pairs of shoes for work. Don't wear the same pair of shoes two days in a row. Call a podiatrist office and see if there are shoe stores in your area they would recommend. Advil may work better than Tylenol because it addresses inflammation. Foot soaking, self massage, stretching, and exercising on off days are all things you need to do. I still have pain, but after getting good shoes, stretching, and biking (the only form of cardio I can do since my feet hurt!), it is definitely a lot better than it was. And yes, it does get better after a few weeks. Stretch during your shift (calves, hamstring, piriformis, abdominal side muscles). Take Advil on your lunch break so you are not in so much pain after work.

FutureCRNA?, BSN, RN · Apr 8, 2013

I would suggest that on your days off, keep to a good exercise schedule. I think running or elliptical is great, it conditions the body for endurance. When your body is conditioned to run, say 13 mi or 26 mi at a time, being on your feet for 13 hours isn't a problem. Plus you can go to a running store & get fitted for a good pair of shoes, which may help resolve the problem as well :)

kikkidee6 · Apr 9, 2013

My advise is get god shoe I have Klogz USA and Ilove them my sis is an LPN and she told me about them and Advil take two and your good to go

LightX · Apr 10, 2013

SHOES! you have to spend the $ to get a really good pair of shoes! Sears has some good nursing shoes.

Take an aspirin before your shift and get some muscle rub to use on breaks.

Pay attention to how your lifting, pushing, pulling. I recently noticed that I've been lifting a resident to a standing position who could stand herself with encouragement and a little more patience on my part.

>crank the beds up for providing care...even if it's only for a quick reposition! It makes all the difference in the world. Take the time to do it, one wrong or difficult lift can start your pain for the entire shift.

Stretching before/after and during your shift helps. Find the correct ones to do! I stretch in the break room and don't care it I get "looks" :wacky:

Your body will get use to it after a while! Right now, it's new and your body is screaming at you to stop. But, it will cope with the change!

marsqueen · Apr 11, 2013

I'm sure I sound like I am talking out my butt, and sound like a complete jerk, which I don't mean to, but at this point I would welcome the back pain for a steady paycheck.

On the other hand, this may sound silly, but I've had other jobs where I had to do heavy lifting and the one thing that helped me was yoga. Have you tried that? I thought it was stupid at first, but it really does stretch your muscles and make you stronger.

NurseRose84 · Apr 11, 2013

Agreed about the yoga. I've found that's the only thing helping my sore muscles. However, I think my soreness comes from having lost a lot of muscle tone due to my last job being in an office. I also think good shoes and socks help a lot.

5 meals · Apr 14, 2013

I started working out not too long ago b/c I'm 40 pounds overweight (but even the people bigger than me don't seem to be effected).

I don't know how bigger people manage, but I'm also overweight and suffer from lower back pain. It doesn't bother me if I'm standing straight up, but it can be burdensome if I'm bending over for any length of time. I think it's the weight of my gut pulling on my lower back. It's not a strength problem for me either. I lift fairly heavy free weights, so I have the core strength, but I think the problem is a matter of fatigue.

Do you find yourself stretching your toes when your feet hurt? That may be an early sign of plantar faciitis, or at least weak feet. It takes time to strengthen feet, but stretching everything from the glutes, to hamstrings, calves, and feet can help prevent and get over plantar faciitis.

How about joining me in a diet? We can lose the extra weight, and hopefully we're rewarded with less lower back pain. It'll be less stress on our feet too. You probably won't want to do most of my workout unless your goal is to look like a burly lumberjack, but you might be interested in the HIIT portion of my workout that I plan on phasing in in a week or two. Basically it's intervals of sprints. The benefits are that it doesn't take that long, and it will raise the metabolism even while dieting.

Whichever path you chose, I wish you good luck with it.

5 meals · Apr 17, 2013

Let me add one more thing.

You'll get much more strength out of your core when you use more than your lower back. Take a moderately deep breath, push it into your abdomen and flex your abs. Your lower back will still need to work, but this takes a lot of strain off the back and may allow you to lift a lot more weight if the rest of your body is up to it.

SENSUALBLISSINFL, BSN, RN · May 25, 2013

I am sorry you are hurting, CNA's have a very physical demanding job. Please invest in a good pair of shoes, while some may be expensive, it will ease your back and tired legs. Alegria is always having sales on their shoes, and also do not forget to get a good pair of compression socks.

amberella123 · May 29, 2013

Hospital work IS harder though than LTC/SNF.

NOT true at all. Depends on the hospital and ltc. I work at a LTC and have had several CNA's come over from the hospital that are very slow because the hosp they worked at, they had way less patients to deal with and different tasks etc.

Purple93 · Jun 1, 2013

So just an update. I have been working for about two months now and I just wanted to let you all know how much of a help you were in dealing with the pain with all of the useful suggestions. SO, I am happy to say that I did indeed get used to it. I think i wrote before that I bought some New Balance stability shoes and they make a HUGE difference. In fact, one day it flooded like crazy near my house and my friend who was dropping me off had to let me off down the street from my house or else her car would've gotten stuck like the other fifteen cars did :wideyed: So, my shoes got soaked through and through. The next day I was forced to wear some super flat, very poorly made champion shoes and my feet hurt all over again until my New Balance shoes were dry so the shoe really does matter. I also bought some arch support insoles for the shoe which helped too but were annoying b/c they only go halfway in the shoes and they kept sliding down towards my toes which made my feet hurt again so i haven't really been wearing them. But yeah, on most days i feel absolutely no pain anymore (but on some days i will have a minor foot ache but nothing like before). As you know when I first started I felt so horrible and weak. So this is a major improvement thank you all.