I got a kitchen assistant job which will train me up as a chef in due course.
I like the work but they start you off washing very heavy pots and I have to do a lot of heavy lifting of sacks and other kitchen items. The job is non-stop on your feet and I often don't get a break.
I feel very very tired on my days off and my hands, legs and back all hurt.
Before the job the hands hurt anyway but now the legs and back hurt a lot more.
Even so I really enjoy the job and am good at it.
My question is, if I carry on with this heavy physical job, am I in danger of permanently damaging my joints and/or permanently worsening my rheumatoid arthritis?
Many thanks for your help.
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ma73jon
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Only your Doctor can really answer that question ma73jon.
Some people can manage better than others......maybe if you speak to your employers they will be able to put you on less strenuous jobs if you get a letter from your doctor?
Good Luck...it’s good to hear you enjoy your job....hope it works out for you.
Kitchen work is hard, even when you get to be a chef. So really depends on how well your RA is controlled in the future.
But for now what you need to do is make sure you know exactly how to protect your joints when at work. So lifting techniques are very important, possibly wrist splints, that sort of thing. If your back is starting to hurt that really says to me that you are not using it correctly. Sometimes it helps to have stretching exercises to do after work to make sure you are keep muscles supple.
Maybe also assess whether you are wearing the best shoes. (A lot of nurses and chefs swear by Birkenstock workwear as hygienic, comfortable and supportive). Ask if you could have an assessment by an occupational therapist.
But above all only your rheumatologist can say whether the state of your RA means that physical work will be hard for you.
I think the best person to answer that is the occupational therapist!
They will be able to discuss with you how you can best protect your joints and whether this is a reasonable ambition.
Personally I wouldn't be able to do it!
ma73jon I was working in front of house but still helped in kitchen when team needed me and still do now as a manager. I changed to this place a year ago as I knew walking 18000 steps a day was killing me. Now I am 54 I needed to change to make work and body work together. Issues I have are too much water on hands and skin splits, spend a whole day in the kitchen, helping on busy days my joints telll me.
So it does depend where you are on your RA journey but kitchen work is tough on the body if you have OA or RA.
I was known as the greek plate thrower at the last place as I would swan in to collect plates in the bistro elegantly and my hands would give up and some days a lot of crockery was broken. Apparently the past year breakages have gone DOWN. hahaha
However, I do have the experience of working in a factory, doing a very heavy manual job in a fast paced environment, and two shift patterns!! Very very hard work, coming home shattered and in pain etc,
I have had RA for 15 plus years, and although the job hasn't given me RA, it certainly hasn't helped it!! I also have osteoarthritis in both my shoulders, which is caused by wear and tear, and overuse of joints. Previous to factory work I was in retail management and also a liaison officer with a building contractor, unfortunately in 2010 I was made redundant along with 10,000 of my colleagues, that's when I took the factory job, I never had any problems with my RA until the factory, I think that the hard work has caught up with me, and my body is now telling me enough is enough!! My employer has put some "reasonable adjustments" in place!! But I'm still struggling!!
Is your employer aware of your RA?? If they are you should speak with them & HR about your struggles, they should know about the equality 2010 act, there's a good booklet available through nras "how to support an employee with Rheumatoid arthritis" my employee has known for a number of years, but I did take a copy into HR!!
I have been on sick leave since early August, my GP diagnosed tenosynovitis in my wrist, which is extremely painful, again this is overuse and repetitive stress!! I am waiting to see my RA consultant but have to wait for my appointment in Oct!!
All I will say is that if I had my time again I would certainly not have worked that hard, you only get one body and once it's worn out you can't get another!!
Hi Pinklamb, I have tenosynovitis, too. It's awful when it's flared up. My hand and wrist felt like they were broken. It lasted for over 8 months before I saw a hand surgeon who gave me a cortisone shot (which I thought was going to be useless, since I had gotten one a few months prior with no results) and it actually helped with the swelling and pain. That was early 2018 and I haven't had that awful broken hand feeling since. I hope you can get some relief! I know that pain and it's horrible.
It was my GP who diagnosed it, he never offered any kind of treatment, maybe because GP 's are a bit wary incase they step on the rheumatologist toes?? I don't actually have an appointment with the consultant until the end of October!! So just waiting to see what she says!!!
I get like a sharp shooting pain from the bottom of my thumb going up into my arm, and the veins in my hand really protrude...
My pain was in my outer wrist area, where the big joint is. I couldn't move it without awful pain. I wasn't working at the time, and I would have had to go on disability if I was because I couldn't do anything with my right hand.
And yes, the veins protruded as well. My hands always get like that whenever I get an RA flare up. Lots of swelling (and pain) and those veins sticking out. Ouch!
October is just a few days away, but it's a shame you aren't scheduled until the END of October. Are you able to get on a cancellation list, in case someone cancels? That's what I always do when I'm in a lot of pain. They're usually able to get me in sooner. Doctors offices don't like open slots in their schedule. No money in that!
Yes, general practitioners are very careful nowadays because they usually aren't certified in any specialty, which is why they are always referring patients out to specialists. Healthcare has become very strange to me. You can't just go to the doctor and get help. You get sent to a specialist. GP's have become referral doctors for the most part.
I surely hope you get the help and answers you need. The hand surgeon told me if the cortisone shot didn't work, he would consider surgery and showed me what they do for tenosynovitis. All the best to you!
Hi well all I can say has a qualified chef who has also worked in factories and shops. two years ago I had to give up because my hands and knees couldn’t take it any more. I also have arthritis but I’ve Osteoarthritis in my hands and knees due to working 50/70 hours shifts. But I’ve done that 30 plus years. So it really depends on you and your body.
Whenever I have asked my doctor about certain things making my RA worse, he has told me that nothing that I do will make it worse, it's just a matter of how much pain I can tolerate. He tells me that certain things will flare the RA up, but what I'm "doing" won't cause anymore damage. It's just a matter of how much pain I want to deal with.
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