I started working in a fast food kitchen 2 weeks ago and it’s physically stressful so far. I do a lot of meal prep which includes a lot of chopping, carrying, and cleaning. Being on my feet for ~7 hours a day is slowly taking a toll on me and I really want to take preventive measures for long term problems that come with it. My right thumb is numb as I type down this post at 1am because I somehow woke up before 4:30am.
For a little background, this is my first official job where I’m being paid actual money for my work. As per usual, I can’t quit because of finances and I like my coworkers and managers so far. I just want my body to cope with it better and I’m not sure how I should go with it. I was pretty sedentary before I started working. I wear comfortable non-slip shoes with orthotics to better support my arch. I also bought a muscle rolling stick to help massage my feet and leg muscles after work. I think the compression socks I recently got isn’t doing much so I’m going to invest in some Bombas socks soon. What else can I do to prevent breaking my body doing this job?
sleep with wrist guards on. the kind with the metal plates in em, that keep your wrist tilted back a bit. both hands. uncomfortable at first but easily the best long term investment for your wrists you can make (this applies for your thumb too, it’s all connected)
the fact your thumb is going numb is pretty worrisome. if you can, baby it in the shower hot water and massage it. or alternate running hot and cold water on it (4 min hot, 1 min cold). stretch it, your wrists, arms and shoulders (it’s all connected). look up nerve glides and do those as well
i went to wrist pt for a while, this is all stuff i learned from it. hope it helps, seems like you’re covered on feet/leg stuff
Sleeping with wrist guards really does make a world of difference. And maybe there is some way to do the repetitive tasks in a more ergonomoc way? For example, I crocheted a couple of pieces for friends’ weddings in quick succession out of very tiny yarn, and it destroyed my wrists for several weeks after. Turns out, I’d been holding my crochet hook in a really stress-inducing way; I had just never had a reason to question my form until it started causing a repetitive stress injury. By just changing the way I held the hook, I started to see improvement almost immediately.
i actually dropped crochet because of the wrist issues (well, i got bored too, but still). do you happen to have a graphic of the different hand position you do for it? i dunno if i’ll pick it back up, but i’m curious nonetheless
I used to hold it in the pencil position, but now i use the knife position example photo here. The pencil position requires you to use more thumb/wrist muscles, but the knife position helps me keep my wrist straight and use my forearm muscles more.
How’s your hydration? Poor hydration can lead to muscle cramping, among many other issues.
Seconding the recommendation to S T R E C H and hydrate yourself, aim for minimum every couple hours. This will help keep your body in shape for longer no matter whether you work at a desk, standing, walking around a warehouse, a kitchen, a school, jobsite, WFH or whatever you do.
+1 for all the advice here, with one extra one: Make sure you’re getting enough protein in your diet. Your muscles are getting torn up, and that’s good - that’ll make them grow back stronger! But only if you’re getting enough protein to build them back. I boil up 6 of these guys at a time and pop two a day for breakfast for just a little extra protein: https://food52.com/recipes/35930-momofuku-s-soy-sauce-eggs
I dont know how old you are OP or in what good state of health you are, but assuming youre young and ablebodied it should get easier.
I worked fast food for years and while it was emotionally and physically draining to do more than 40 hours a week it became mostly second nature after a while.
I made friends and spent time with good people in my fastfood, including finding my future college roommate which admittedly helped change the trajectory of my life(I may not have gone to the uni I went to if I had to go alone). In a lot of ways I was the perfect age for it because a lot of my coworkers were people close to or around my age and it made the experience a bit more fun and the hard work of it all was a bonding experience that brought us together. Future jobs I would take didnt have that.
That said, get out as soon as you can. It’s easy to let the fuzzy rose colored filter of time make it out to be good, but it was work. Long nights, long shifts, lots of angry mean customers, stupid workplace drama from people fighting for what little crumbs we got paid as shift and team leaders. It’s unjust but I find that the more money that I make in progressively newer jobs the less I have to work. Believe me I understand leaving is easier said than done, and you only just started, but if you can get better reach for it and grab it.
I say this not to preach some bootstraps nonsense, but because fast food workers are underestimated. Good ones have to have strong customer service skills, thick skin, an ability to quickly learn and multitask, and the ability to quickly make and prep the food. I also mention this because it’s easy, especially when youre tired from working your fast food hours, to get stuck. I myself worked that fast food for close to 5 years and I know others who are still working there all these years later.
