Cut, Cut, Cut: How to Prevent Repetitive Strain Injury from Hairdressing

You’re cutting another client’s hair–the sixth of the day. As you run their hair between your fingers to trim the ends, your hand holding the shears begins to feel pins and needles. It’s going numb.

You pause a moment, surprised, thinking that it must be because you haven’t let go of your shears in a few minutes. But as you go to trim the hair, your hand seems to be losing its strength, and closing the shears again takes more effort than before.

After clenching and unclenching your hand, trying to get the feeling to stop, you finish the haircut. Hopefully it’s a freak accident, right?

Wrong. It continues during your next appointment, and also the next day. Over the next few weeks it gets even worse. You go to the doctor and find out you have developed carpal tunnel as a hairdresser: a type of repetitive strain injury (RSI) in hairdressing and other professions that pinches the nerves leading to your hand.

Many RSIs affect hairdressers, and they can change your relationship with your day-to-day work. Thankfully, there are ways to avoid and recover from these injuries so that you can continue to style and cut hair to your heart’s content.

Is being a hairdresser hard on your body?

Every day that you brush, cut, blow dry, and style your clients’ hair is another day where your wrists, arms, and hands experience strain from the repetitive motions. Hairstylists and barbers are constantly on their feet with their arms held up as they work. How many days and years do you think you can stand, opening and closing your shears, before your body says, “Enough?!”

While most day-to-day activities use muscles in a well-distributed way, hair cutting and styling frequently lead to overuse injuries in hairdressers because you overwork specific muscles. In fact, a 2019 review published in the National Library of Medicine (NIH) shared these results from 44 different studies regarding injuries in a 12-month period caused by the repetitive work activities of hairdressers:

• Hair Stylist Back Pain: Up to 76% of hair stylists experienced back pain in the last 12 months.
• Hairdresser Neck Pain: Up to 58% of hair stylists experience neck pain in the last 12 months.
• Hairdresser Shoulder Pain: Up to 60% of hair stylists experience shoulder pain in the last 12 months.
• Hair Stylist Hand Problems: Up to 53% of hair stylists experience wrist pain and hand pain in the last 12 months.

Common injuries that accompany these pains and are typical conditions attributed to hairdressing include:

• Stiff neck and spine
• Trigger finger
• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and trapped nerves
• Muscle/Joint tightening and strain
• Varicose veins
• Tennis elbow
• Tendinitis

How can a repetitive strain injury be prevented for hairdressers?

Looking at the statistics on hairdresser health problems, you might be thinking, “I’m doomed.” But you’re not! You can absolutely protect yourself from the RSIs hairdressers experience with the three tips below.

1. Use the right tools.

When choosing tools to avoid common hairdresser injuries, you want them to be lightweight and ergonomic. That means the shears, combs, and blow dryers don’t weigh down your arm significantly.

For combs, ensure their grips are comfortable and not too awkward in your hand. For shears, use ones with a crane grip so that your thumb isn’t too uncomfortable after repeated use, as ScissorTech suggests. This will help you avoid wrist and hand pain over time.

Finally, make sure your shears aren’t dull. Any extra effort spent using dull shears will add strain and cause more hair stylist injuries long term.

2. Practice daily stretches and exercises.

You’ve heard of stretching before exercise. But stretching is equally important for the workday activities that put strain on your muscles. As you stretch and flex your muscles before work, you give them a chance to warm up and loosen, making you less likely to get repetitive strain injuries while hairdressing.

As a barber, the areas you should focus on stretching are your back, neck, and hands. Doing hand and finger exercises can also help you develop endurance and strength.

Give yourself enough time before your first appointment of the day to perform these stretches and exercises. Otherwise, you’ll be going into appointments with your muscles tight and tense, which can lead to injuries.

Some great exercises recommended by Salons Direct include stretching one arm out in front of you with the palm facing up. Using the other arm, push your fingers down and towards you, then repeat with the other arm. Or, even giving a stress ball a few squeezes can give your muscles some good stimulation.

If you need other good suggestions of exercises and stretches for hairdressers to avoid RSIs, contact a physical therapist–and do it before the symptoms of a repetitive strain injury from hairdressing begin to show. Otherwise, use some of the other exercises mentioned in this article by Richmond Rehab to give your muscles a nice break.

3. Protect your posture.

Hairdressing is hard on your back. Why? According to Sundial Clinics, it is because hairdressers are standing for long periods of time holding their arms in the air and doing a precise and intricate task. Your muscles are tensing up from the continual arm usage, and you don’t have a chance to relax as you are standing. Your muscles don’t deal with prolonged stress and usage without any rest, so eventually that stiffness comes back to haunt you through inflammation and nerve irritation. How do hairdressers avoid back pain?

You can avoid back pain by limiting how much you bend over, as well as wearing supportive footwear, as recommended by Salons Direct. Ensure your wash basins are an appropriate height. And have an adjustable seat so you can position clients high enough to work comfortably. Yes, the good quality seats can be expensive, but having to bend your neck and back down to work can cause a much worse hairdresser injury to your back that costs more.

For additional protection, consider buying a rolling high stool (or a salon stool) so you can take more pressure off your back.

Regardless of whether you have a salon stool, sit down and rest between appointments. Taking even a few minutes to relax will prevent you from compensating for the exhaustion by slouching, leaning, or otherwise negatively affecting your posture.

Care for your business and your body with WellnessPro

If you’re worried about your body suffering from a repetitive strain injury while hairdressing, start working on protecting it today with better tools, better stretches, and better habits. If you also worry about your business, start protecting it with better coverage today with WellnessPro Insurance. We provide excellent and necessary coverage to hairdressers and hair stylists all over the country.

If you are interested in a quote, apply here.