This journal has written about the commute and the desk after a crash. This entry is for readers whose workday looks nothing like a desk. Electricians and drywall crews working overhead. Warehouse pickers and forklift drivers who back up dozens of times a shift. Mechanics under a lift, nurses turning patients, line cooks, roofers, delivery drivers in and out of a truck all day.
For them the crash usually happens on the way home or on a weekend, and the neck's 72-hour lag plays out on the job. Day one feels fine. By day three the neck is being asked to do the hardest things a neck does, for eight or ten hours, with little chance to rest it.
What physical work asks of a crashed neck
Looking up
Overhead work holds the head tipped back for long stretches. That position loads the joints at the back of the neck and the muscles at the base of the skull, the same region a crash tends to strain. Readers describe a headache that builds through the afternoon and a neck that will not look up at all by quitting time.
Turning to look behind
Backing a forklift, a truck, or a pallet jack means repeated full turns of the head. A neck that turns partway and stops is not only painful here. It is a safety problem for everyone on the floor.
Lifting and carrying
Lifting draws on the muscles that run from the neck to the shoulders. A heavy box, a bag of mix, or a patient transfer can bring back pain that seemed to be settling.
Ladders and heights
Climbing combines looking up, gripping, and balance. If the crash rattled the head at all, dizziness or a slow reaction on a ladder is a real hazard.
The hard hat
Extra weight on the head, all day, adds load to a neck that is already guarding.
The safety calls that are yours
This journal does not write work restrictions. That is for a clinician who has examined you. It can say that some decisions do not need an exam, and that they belong to you and your supervisor:
- Do not climb if you feel dizzy, foggy, or off balance, or if you cannot look up without pain.
- Do not run equipment that requires turning to look behind you if your neck will not turn far enough to see.
- Tell someone on the crew, or your supervisor, that you were in a crash, even if you are not asking for anything. If you get worse on the job, someone should know why.
- Stop if a symptom from the emergency list below appears during a shift.
Readers sometimes feel they cannot afford to say anything. This journal understands that. A fall from a ladder, or a forklift backing into a coworker, costs far more than a conversation.
The bright line, on a job site
Chest pain, a sudden severe headache, weakness or numbness on one side, trouble speaking, a loss of bowel or bladder control, or a head injury with vomiting or worsening confusion is an emergency room trip right now, not a call to a clinic. On a job site, add weakness or numbness spreading down an arm, a hand that suddenly will not grip, and any fall after the crash in which the head was struck. Stop work and get checked. Entry 05 covers the head.
What to track through the three days
A tradesperson's notes can be short. At the end of each shift, one line:
- The date and what the job asked of you that day: overhead work, lifting, ladders, driving.
- When in the shift the neck started to hurt, and what you were doing.
- Whether you had to stop, change tasks, or ask for help.
- Headache, dizziness, or arm tingling: yes or no.
Three days of those lines tell an examiner more than any description of "it gets bad at work." They are also the start of the dated record that Entry 08 is about.
Getting seen around a shift
Missouri Injury Clinic's Hazelwood and Tesson Ferry offices are open Monday through Thursday 9am to 6pm and Friday 9am to 12pm. The O'Fallon office is open Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 9am to 6pm, with Wednesday and Friday by appointment. Every office closes daily from 12 to 2. The clinic says it reserves same-day appointment times daily for car accident injuries, so a first-shift worker who gets off mid-afternoon can call that morning and ask about a slot after 2. Say it was a car crash, give the date, and describe the work you do; it shapes the exam and the plan.
The clinic publishes its auto injury lane as diagnosis and a treatment plan after a crash. For readers in north county the Hazelwood office is at 14 Village Square Shop Ctr, (314) 627-1411. Entry 09 lists all three offices.