Arthritis Osteoarthritis Support & Coping Print Work Stress Solutions for People With Osteoarthritis By Carol Eustice twitter linkedin Carol Eustice is a writer who covers arthritis and chronic illness. She is the author of "The Everything Health Guide to Arthritis." Learn about our editorial process Carol Eustice Medically reviewed by Medically reviewed by Carly Snyder, MD on November 07, 2019 facebook twitter linkedin Carly Snyder, MD, is a board-certified reproductive and perinatal psychiatrist who combines traditional psychiatry with integrative medicine-based treatments. Learn about our Medical Review Board Carly Snyder, MD on November 07, 2019 Osteoarthritis Overview Symptoms Causes Diagnosis Treatment Coping Peter Dazeley / Photographer's Choice / Getty Images Workers who have osteoarthritis symptoms face extra stress in the workplace. Depending on the joint or joints affected, it may become difficult to effectively do your job or perform at the level you did prior to developing osteoarthritis. Are You Doing Your Best Work? In an effort to try to solve workplace stress, you need to ask yourself some tough questions: Can you still do your job?Is your productivity affected by having osteoarthritis?Does it take you significantly longer to complete a task?Are parts of your job still manageable while other parts have become unmanageable?Are you drained after work, with no energy left for anything else? Answering those questions should help you develop a vision for what you need to do to improve your situation. Assessing Your Work Situation The first thing you need to do is assess what interferes with you doing your job. Is it pain? Is it decreased physical function? Is it fatigue?If you are answering yes to those questions, can you think of solutions? Is your pain well-controlled or are you getting unsatisfactory pain relief? It may be time to discuss your problems and workplace stress with your doctor. Maybe there are treatment options which you have yet to try.Are there changes you can make with regard to how you do your work? Is it possible to pace yourself, plan your workload better, or take some work home? Is it possible to conserve energy: can you sit part of the time if your job has you standing most of the day or vice versa?Would it help to talk about options with your employer? Have you considered asking for a later start time, flex schedule, part-time shift instead of full-time? Is there a light-duty job available which may suit you?Have you talked to your co-workers? Have you been honest with co-workers about your work difficulties? Can they help you without imposing on them too much?Are there simple, common sense solutions that you are overlooking? Are you sufficiently protecting your joints at work, wearing comfortable shoes, working in an ergonomic office set-up?Have you checked ADA regulations to see if there is any help for you there? Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Learn tips for managing arthrits pain, medications, and daily challenges. Sign Up You're in! Thank you, {{form.email}}, for signing up. There was an error. Please try again. What are your concerns? Other Inaccurate Hard to Understand Submit Article Sources Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. Work and Arthritis. Arthritis Research Campaign. 8/15/2007.