Does anyone else feel sore from standing all day while working in retail? I know many people who got varicose veins. Why aren't there some sort of policy to change that?
About standing all day
- Thread starter megan2011
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After an eight hour day of standing I can definitely feel it in my feet, but thats expected. I personally would find it annoying to have to repeatedly sit down and stand up in order to help patients. During down times I don't think there would be as much of an issue to sit, however it seems most retail settings aren't really designed to accommodate efficient work flow while sitting.
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Lots of people have to stand for 8+ hours - nurses, factory workers, waitresses. Get some good shoes, some compression socks and take some sitting breaks. Bring a second pair of shoes and switch half-way through your shift. Even really good shoes start to be uncomfortable after awhile.
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A few minutes here and there sitting wouldn't hurt...It is good during a short lunch break..Too much sitting is no good, it puts me to sleep since I'm an active person...Multi-tasking does make the day go by faster...Weight reduction helps keep the pressure off your knees if you are overweight...
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I used to work 8-12 hour shifts in a restaurant so standing for 8-12 hours doesn't really phase me. It does get boring though. Sometimes I have to take 5 minutes to walk around the store and explore. I feel like a little kid saying that but i do it almost every shift
On the retail side there is a much higher risk to non-life threatening disabilities (knee, back, foot injuries) that can prohibit one from working at a normal capacity. Make sure you enroll in your group disability plan or even better a personal plan that does not make you go back to work after two years (this is a common stipulation written into the major chains benefit plans).
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I definitly get sore in the back. I keep a bar stool at my station and rotate between sitting and standing. When I dictate my scripts I sit down and when I am entering a script. I know it seems ridiculous to be constantly sitting and then standing, but it really helps to give my body a break. I think both sitting and standing can have adverse effects of you do it all day long. I was a bartender for 6 years before pharmacy school so standing for me is preferred.
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I'll never forget the day corporate came through my pharmacy one day and took our one stool. They just took it right out of the pharmacy, saying it was "extraneous and didn't belong." 😡
My feet are definitely hurting today after two days at a CVS as an intern. At least waiters get to move around. This pharmacy's the size of a shoe box, so I found myself either walking on or being walked on by the pharmacy staff, or finding what little counter space I could to work on stuff.
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Cole Haan shoes are my best friends
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A policy to change getting varicose veins?
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How about picking a different job
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I never understood that corporate BS. I have an idea for you though. You should just stack up some boxes of paper or labels and use them as a stool. Better yet, use empty boxes, cut the tops and bottoms off of them, except the top box and slide it over your stool. Then when corporate comes in it will just look like a stack of boxes in the corner.
how many customers come put on the comment card " Service was great, but I didn't appreciate how the pharmacist's stool was so visually extraneous, it just didn't seem to belong in the space"..."Aside from that, everything was great!"
I can picture somebody from corporate finding out and removing the stool without you knowing. The next day, you go to sit down on the boxes and they just collapse.
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If they remove my stool, they can get a nice phone call from the Department of Labor. I have a disability which makes it hard for me to stand for extended periods of time. Honestly, who cares if you have a stool in the pharmacy. Everyone is leaning on the counter, anyway.
I've never spent as much time sitting all day as I do at my current job. I wasn't in the greatest shape before, but now I really feel like a marshmallow. 😳
I'm also really surprised nobody's mentioned Zostrix. Use that on your feet, and you'll have a lot less discomfort.
I'm also really surprised nobody's mentioned Zostrix. Use that on your feet, and you'll have a lot less discomfort.
I can see that being good for your feet, but generally it's not just your feet, but your legs too, and then that's way too big of an area for some topical product.
I want to get one of those things that vibrate your feet that they have at the fair after you've been walking around all day. A few minutes on that thing and you're ready to go.
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The worst is the static standing for hours. What I do is go and wander around the store every 30 minutes or so. It get's your legs to pump the pooled blood back up and prevents the swelling. Plus, sometimes I wear compression stockings and the seem to help (probably a lot of placebo). I don't wear the lame TED stockings but the cool ones triathletes wear like Zensas. Pink compression socks show you mean business. Plus I have a stool for when I'm done standing for the day
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My knees are totally arthritic so I'm have a hard time walking. (Right knee had a torn ACL, didn't fix that for 7 years so constant bone/bone rubbing led to all the cartilage being torn. Then left knee was bearing double weight for a while so that led to cartilage damage there.)
I probably need the surgery that Kobe Bryant and Alex Rodriguez just got.
I probably need the surgery that Kobe Bryant and Alex Rodriguez just got.
Things i have learned in my 18 years of retail, being on my feet all the time.
1. Buy really nice shoes, such as Cole Haan as mentioned above. Personally Johnston and Murphy has been the best brand for me. Double check before buying shoes that they can be resoled. I do this not so much to save money (which it does), but because this prevents me from having to break in a new pair of shoes every year or 2.
You dont wear cheap shoes,cheap shoes wear you!
2. Compression stockings are HUGE. They prevent leg fatigue, and it's definitely not a placebo affect.
3. Eat right and exercise (duh). Heavier weight means more wear and tear on the old feet, knees etc.
And fair or unfair, appearance lends credibility to many in the public.
4. Be glad we are in a job that requires standing and walking. I once thought it was bad for me to be on my feet all the time, but have since learned otherwise. Supposedly, "sitting is the new smoking". I hope "they" are correct on this.
1. Buy really nice shoes, such as Cole Haan as mentioned above. Personally Johnston and Murphy has been the best brand for me. Double check before buying shoes that they can be resoled. I do this not so much to save money (which it does), but because this prevents me from having to break in a new pair of shoes every year or 2.
You dont wear cheap shoes,cheap shoes wear you!
2. Compression stockings are HUGE. They prevent leg fatigue, and it's definitely not a placebo affect.
3. Eat right and exercise (duh). Heavier weight means more wear and tear on the old feet, knees etc.
And fair or unfair, appearance lends credibility to many in the public.
4. Be glad we are in a job that requires standing and walking. I once thought it was bad for me to be on my feet all the time, but have since learned otherwise. Supposedly, "sitting is the new smoking". I hope "they" are correct on this.
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2 things:
Good dansko shoes and compression stockings.
Good dansko shoes and compression stockings.
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Don't work retail?
What policy would you suggest? Yes, your feet will hurt after you stand on them for 8-10 hours. Get some old lady orthopedic socks (I got some Ortho Cloud socks from Crocs and they are the bomb) and some old lady orthotics. You will be amazed at the wonders they work for you. My custom orthotics were $300 from a podiatrist - but my insurance picked up the tab.
And I can call them "old lady" stuff...since I'm an old lady. 😎
5. As NJhat said, buy long term disability insurance privately. Do this at a young age! Many employers provide 50% of your salary in long term disability insurance, and buying privately insures you at almost 100%. Get this insurance locked in while you are young and healthy, because even if you are found to have problems later, the contract stays intact. For instance, I was found to have keratoconus in one eye about 9 years ago. When I went to increase my disability policy, they had to write up a secondary policy to increase it. This policy had an exclusion for eye disorders. But my original policy that was written before I was diagnosed would still pay for eye problems that cause disability.
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Standing all day is brutal. They call varicose veins "pharmacist legs" a lot of times from all the standing.
Employers just want to abuse the pharmacist. To remove a simple stool from the pharmacy is just a ****ty work environment.
Employers just want to abuse the pharmacist. To remove a simple stool from the pharmacy is just a ****ty work environment.
