The Link between Arthritis and Agriculture

By Ellen S. Gibson, Maine AgrAbility

I have arthritis in my hands, which I discovered soon after I started to milk goats. The repetitive motion of milking twice a day causes my joints to swell and that makes my hands painful. A strong handshake is agonizing. When the milk is heaviest after the goats kid, I have to stop frequently, breathe, and concentrate to keep at it.

People tend to think of arthritis as an annoyance, when in fact, it’s the leading form of disability worldwide. Arthritis affects one in three farmers causing pain and stiffness, decreased mobility and dexterity. The lifting, bending, gripping, stooping, climbing, hoisting, and hefting farmers do in the course of a day causes stress on the joints, wearing away the cartilage that keeps bones, tendons, and muscles working smoothly and seamlessly.

Defining Arthritis

In simplest terms, arthritis is the inflammation of a joint. The joints most often affected are the shoulders, knees, hips, elbows or hands. Arthritis has many forms and affects people of all ages with various symptoms and levels of disability. There are over 100 types of arthritis, including osteoarthritis, tendonitis, bursitis, fibromyalgia, carpel tunnel, gout, and even Lyme Disease.

An Ounce of Prevention

Your parents gave you a genetic health card at birth. If arthritis is in your genes, it will affect you eventually. Injuries and certain kinds of work can cause arthritis over time, which is why people often associate this condition with aging. There is no cure for arthritis, but being aware of how you use your body, adapting the work you do, and avoiding repetitive tasks can relieve painful symptoms even if it can’t be prevented over the long run.

Making small changes in the way you work can add up to significant benefits. For example, every time you jump down from your tractor, the jarring impact is injuring your knees, your hips, and your lower back. Don’t wait for your knees to start hurting. Instead of jumping, climb down from your tractor.

There are all kinds of tools and equipment to help you farm. Special ergonomically designed tools can help you work more comfortably, with less injury to your joints. A tractor can be retrofitted with lower step, to help you get on and off. Rearview mirrors can be installed to keep you from twisting your torso. And of course, a roll-bar is standard safe operating equipment. For me, because pain limits the number of goats I can milk, a milking machine is assistive technology that helps me move beyond a barrier so I can grow my business.

Vary your routines. The object cannot solely be working until a task is done. It’s important to be mindful of how your work is affecting your body throughout the course of the day. Are your muscles getting sore? Stop and stretch for five minutes. Are you feeling tension in your shoulders? Shift to another task. Is your head beginning to ache? Move into the shade and have a drink of water.

Instead of carrying one heavy bucket that makes you lopsided and puts undue strain on shoulder, elbow, and back muscles, carry two buckets. The same weight evenly distributed is much easier on your body. You can reduce the pressure you need to grip if you cushion the handles on those buckets. Cut a piece of pipe insulation and slip it over the handle. Hold in place with duct tape. The thicker handle makes for an easier grip that puts less strain on your finger joints.

Rest when you’re tired. Take a nap after lunch. Rest allows the joints to heal and repair.

Massage increases the blood flow to the muscles, bringing warmth and healing. Creams containing arnica and white pine oil help to heighten the effect and can provide welcome relief.

Exercise to Manage Pain

Exercising those sore joints is one of the best ways to manage pain. That may seem counterintuitive—didn’t exercise cause the pain in the first place?

Exercise and physical activity are not the same. Most farmers are very physically active, working in a particular way (repetitively), concentrating on getting the job done. Exercise is physical activity, too, but the focus is different. Does your daily routine take your muscles through their full range of motion? At some point in the day, do you stretch to maintain balance and flexibility? Do you consciously build endurance as you bring your heart rate up and sustain it before winding down? When you exercise, the focus is not on work, but on your health. The distinction is important.

Walking, hiking, swimming, snowshoeing, hunting—even running—for endurance, and yoga and tai chi for balance and flexibility are examples of low impact exercises that are easy on your joints and great for your health. A bruising game of basketball or football will not help sore joints heal and is not recommended.

Disabilities come in an entire spectrum from mild to extreme. Some are annoyances, some will stop you in your tracks. Like the weather, the course of your life is unpredictable and there are some things you just can’t control. But many aspects of your physical and mental health are within your control. By being mindful of the work you do and its effect on your body, you can continue to farm over the long term, remaining healthy and pain-free.

Time for chores!

[Ellen Gibson is a member of the Maine AgrAbility team. AgrAbility is a program to help farmers with chronic or disabling conditions or injuries so they can continue to farm. A partnership with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, Goodwill, and Alpha One, the program is funded by the USDA. For more information, contact Program Coordinator Lani Carlson at 207-944-1533.]

At the 2012 Maine Farm Days in Clinton, the Maine AgrAbility staff asked visitors to take a short survey about their boots and backs.  Almost half of the full time farmers reported experiencing constant or weekly pain.  Occasional pain was experienced by over 50% of all the respondents.

The largest contributor to pain was heavy lifting, arthritis, injuries and weight or fitness level.  The areas of the body impacted by pain the most were lower back, legs, knees and feet.   Pain in these target areas can stem from poor body support and positioning.

Being mindful of body positioning and correct lifting techniques will help save your back.  Footwear can also have large impact on the body.  Wearing good fitting, supportive shoes or boots that are correct for the type of job being performed may cost more money to purchase, but will be worth the effort in the long run when it come to healthcare and pain management.

Half of the full time farmers used over-the-counter (OTC) medicine for pain relief, while that number was significantly lower for part-time farmers and farm family members. In addition to OTC medicine the part-timers and family members used alternate pain management techniques such as stretching, rest, and hot & cold therapies.

There was wisdom in these farmers and gardeners we met. A few of the most insightful comments we received were:

• “Physical therapy retrained me in doing daily tasks – it was a lifesaver!”
• “I now have custom-fitted work shoes – wish I had them 30 years ago when they would have done me more good.”
• “positioning, pacing, prevention”

Farming is a tough job.  You can reduce some pain involved with farming tasks by planning your tasks during the day.  Don’t expect your body to be able to do all the hard work at once. Plan the heavy lifting with breaks, or working with others.   Think about your posture.  Are you going to be hunched over for extended periods of time?  Are you going to be doing a repetitive motion?  If you are going to be doing long strenuous tasks, pace yourself.  Take breaks to stretch and move your body.  Early common sense and planning can go a long way to keep your day safe and pain free.

You’ve probably seen athletes stretching before a game. They do that to avoid injuries. Farmers and gardeners can injure themselves if their body is not quite ready for physical work. Here is a handy fact sheet from Arkansas AgrAbility (PDF) that shows stretching techniques for before, during and after the work day to avoid strains and injuries. For a hard copy of the one-page stretching exercises, please call Maine AgrAbility at 207.944.1533.  (University of Maine Cooperative Extension Farm Scoop December 2011)

Mediation Services for the Agricultural Community
“Our trained mediators can facilitate disputes involving adverse USDA decisions, farm loans, environmental or forestry issues, insurance or disaster relief, contracts with food processors, neighbors, labor issues, wetland determinations, and more.”  (www.voanne.org)

At the 2012 MOFGA Common Ground Fair, the Maine AgrAbility staff asked visitors to complete a short safety survey.  Staff visited with about 200 visitors over the three day event, and 128 surveys were collected.  The demographic of people that completed the survey were 1:1 male to female and predominantly home gardeners (54%), followed by full time farmers (15%) and part time farmers (15%).  The remaining were either farm family members, farm workers or not involved with agriculture.

The focus of the survey was to determine the safety awareness and attitude of agricultural workers.  Half of the respondents said they think about safety most of the time, the rest said they think about safety either some of the time or all the time.

The most often used personal protective equipment (PPE) was:

• work gloves
• safety glasses
• cell phone
• ear plugs.

Of those that had PPE available 56% of people used it most of the time, 17% always used PPE and 23% sometimes used PPE.  The other PPE people commented on using were:

• fall protection devices,
• safety harnesses;  and
• chaps.

This coincides with the most dangerous tasks people disclosed performing:

• chainsaw use
• tractor and heavy equipment use
• mowing
•  livestock handling; and
• driving.

When asked what type of safety training they would like to see, the top response was “stress on the farm”.  Stress can take its toll both physically and emotionally, by weakening your physical health and focus.  One moment’s distraction can turn a simple task into a disastrous event.

Part of the AgrAbility program is to bring safety to the fore front of agricultural activities: stressing safety awareness throughout the day and the diverse tasks that are completed.  By thinking about safety before starting any tasks, being aware of the activity hazards and being prepared with the appropriate PPE, farming and gardening can be a safe and rewarding job.

Week of September 16 – 22, 2012

This year’s theme for National Farm Safety & Health Week (NFSHW) has a focus on the foundation of agriculture throughout the world – the farm family. Although farming in many regions is moving toward large operations and corporate endeavors, a great percentage of the agrarian industry is still based in the family unit. The International Society for Agricultural Safety & Health (ISASH) continues to have the protection and well-being of farm family members as one of its guiding principles.

Each year, since 1944, the third week in September has been recognized as National Farm Safety & Health Week. For 2012, National Farm Safety & Health Week is September 16 – 22; the theme is Agricultural Safety & Health…A Family Affair. This recognition began as an annual promotion by the National Safety Council (NSC) and has been proclaimed as such by each sitting U.S. President since Franklin D. Roosevelt who signed the first document. This proclamation appears on the White House web site the first week in September. A partner of the NSC, the National Education Center for Agricultural Safety (NECAS), continues this tradition. NECAS has assumed the development and dissemination of informational and educational materials.

Maine AgrAbility, a UMaine program that helps address the needs of farmers with disabilities has received a nearly $166,000 federal grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s AgrAbility program, according to a brief in the Portland Press Herald. The grant was among $4.1 million provided nationwide by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture.