By ten in the morning, you have already adjusted your chair several times. You answer a question in a meeting while quietly rubbing your wrist, or finish a shift wondering how your feet can possibly manage the walk to the car. Nobody sees the small calculations happening underneath your working day. Can you sit through another call, carry that bag, stand at the counter or get through the afternoon without the discomfort becoming too much?

Perhaps you have told yourself that everyone gets aches and you should simply get on with it. Perhaps you worry that saying something will change how people see you, especially when you have spent years being dependable. Yet the fact that you are still doing your job does not mean the way you are doing it is sustainable. You are allowed to ask what would make work more manageable before you reach the point of being unable to continue.

Start with what work is asking your body to do

Pain during the working day does not automatically mean work caused it. An existing condition may feel worse during particular tasks, while repetitive movements, awkward handling or long periods in one position can also contribute to musculoskeletal problems. The Health and Safety Executive recognises that work can cause or aggravate problems affecting areas such as the back, shoulders, arms and hands. Understanding which demands matter in your day helps make a request for support specific.[1]

For a few working days, note the task, how long you were doing it and what became difficult. You might write, “My shoulder becomes more uncomfortable during repeated reaching,” or “Typing for a long uninterrupted stretch makes my wrist ache.” Include anything that makes the task easier, such as changing position or using different equipment. You are gathering practical information, not trying to prove that your discomfort is serious enough to count.

A useful request connects a symptom with a task and a possible change. For example, “Could we review my workstation and the length of my uninterrupted typing sessions?” gives your manager something concrete to consider. “I am struggling” is an important thing to say, but it may not tell someone what help would look like. You can describe the impact clearly even while the medical cause is being investigated.

What support can you ask for?

The most helpful change depends on your role, your symptoms and what is practical and safe. An office worker, a hairdresser, a teacher and a woman supporting people in a care setting will need different conversations. These are options to discuss, rather than a prescription or a guarantee that every request must be agreed. Where a task is unsafe, it needs prompt attention rather than an informal experiment.

A review of your workstation and equipment

If you regularly work at a screen, ask whether your display screen equipment assessment needs updating. HSE says employers must assess workstations for workers who use DSE daily for continuous periods of an hour or more, and reassess when users report pain or discomfort. The assessment should consider the job and the whole setup, rather than focusing only on the chair. Useful questions might concern screen position, reaching for the mouse, keyboard placement, foot support or equipment for prolonged laptop use.[2]

You do not need to arrive with a shopping list of expensive ergonomic products. Ask which aspects of your setup may need changing and who will help you put those changes into practice. A new chair will not address every difficulty if your day still involves hours of uninterrupted typing or repeated awkward reaching. Equipment and the way work is organised should be considered together.

Breaks that are possible to take

Being told to take a break is not much help if your diary or staffing levels make it impossible. You could ask for shorter meeting blocks, time between appointments or a change of task that lets you vary position. For DSE users, HSE says work should include breaks or changes of activity, with short, frequent breaks preferable to longer, infrequent ones. It does not prescribe one legally fixed break interval for every screen-based job.[3]

A practical conversation might focus on ending meetings a little earlier or arranging cover so you can step away from a counter. If standing is the problem, the useful change may be a suitable opportunity to sit. If sitting aggravates symptoms, it may be a chance to move comfortably. The arrangement needs to fit both the task and the person, rather than treating standing all day as the answer to sitting all day.

Changes to physical tasks

If lifting, carrying, reaching or repetitive work brings on symptoms, ask for the task and its risks to be reviewed. Depending on the role, changes could include handling aids, repositioning supplies, reducing repeated overhead reaching or alternating suitable duties. In care work and other safety-critical settings, changes must follow the relevant assessment and procedures. Do not improvise a lifting technique or continue an unsafe task to avoid inconveniencing colleagues.

It can help to be precise about which part is difficult. “Moving these boxes from floor level is aggravating my back” is more useful than a general request for lighter work. Ask what can be changed now and whether further assessment is needed. Raising a concern gives the organisation an opportunity to address it before the same difficulty is repeated through another shift.[1]

Temporary changes to your working pattern

Depending on your job, you could discuss a different start time, adjusted duties, fewer consecutive demanding tasks or an agreed way to attend treatment appointments. If you are returning after sickness absence, ask whether a phased return would be appropriate. Home working may help some people, but it is not automatically the most comfortable or suitable arrangement. Be clear about the specific difficulty you hope a change would address, and discuss any implications for hours, pay or responsibilities before agreeing it.

How to begin the conversation...

Ask for a private conversation at a time when your manager can give it proper attention. Bring one or two examples and a manageable request rather than feeling you must explain your entire medical history. You might say, “I am having persistent pain that is affecting longer periods at my workstation.” Then explain which assessment or change you would like to discuss.

For example, your request could be: “Could we arrange a workstation review and agree some changes to my uninterrupted screen time?” You can add, “I would also like to set a date to review whether the changes help.” If you do not yet know the cause, say that it is being assessed. You can ask what information is needed and how it will be kept confidential.

If asking feels harder than identifying the problem, my article How to Say What You Need Without Guilt, Apology or Over Explaining offers practical ways to express a need clearly. You can remain considerate while being specific about what is affecting you. A request for support does not need to begin with a defence of your work ethic. Your experience and contribution do not disappear because you need something to change.

What can occupational health help with?

If your employer has access to occupational health, ask whether a referral would be useful. Occupational health considers the relationship between health and work and can advise on adjustments, work demands and a return after sickness absence. It can help translate “I have pain” into recommendations about how a job might be adapted. It supports workplace decisions but does not replace your own medical assessment or treatment.[4]

Before an assessment, ask what the referral covers and what information may be shared with your employer. Check the organisation’s policy and the consent process rather than assuming every detail will be passed on. Smaller employers may not have an occupational health service, but they can still discuss support and seek appropriate advice. Acas notes that an employer must obtain permission before contacting a worker’s doctor.[4]

When are reasonable adjustments a legal duty?

In England, Scotland and Wales, an employer’s duty to make reasonable adjustments applies where the relevant disability protections are engaged. A condition may meet the Equality Act definition when it has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on normal daily activities. Menopause symptoms can meet that definition in some circumstances, but menopause and occasional aches are not automatically disabilities. Northern Ireland has a different legal framework.[5,6]

The changes required depend on the individual disadvantage and what is reasonable in the circumstances. You do not need to settle that legal question before starting a conversation about practical support. Employers also have health and safety responsibilities that are separate from disability law. If you are unsure about your situation or feel your concerns are being dismissed, seek guidance from Acas, your union or an appropriate adviser.

Turn an agreement into something you can review

A supportive conversation is a beginning, but the practical details determine whether anything changes. Agree what will happen, who will arrange it and when you will review the outcome. For suitable low-risk changes, a review after a couple of weeks may be useful, while urgent safety concerns should be dealt with promptly. Keep a short written record so you are not relying on memory or starting again with every conversation.

At the review, discuss more than whether pain has vanished. Has the task become easier, are breaks actually happening, and are you finishing the day less restricted? If a change has not helped, ask whether it needs adapting or whether further assessment is appropriate. An unsuccessful first adjustment is information, rather than proof that support will not work.

What if you work from home or for yourself?

Working at home can make discomfort less visible to other people. You may keep adjusting around a dining chair, balancing a laptop or extending your day because there is no obvious moment to leave. If you are employed, include your home setup when asking about assessment and support. If you work for yourself, apply the same practical questions to your workspace, appointments and physical tasks.

Where a health condition or disability creates additional work-related needs, Access to Work may be worth exploring. Eligibility can include some self-employed people and people working from home, subject to the scheme’s criteria. It does not pay for reasonable adjustments an employer is legally required to provide. Check the current eligibility guidance rather than assuming that a diagnosis, application or particular piece of equipment guarantees funding.[7]

The end of the day deserves attention too. If work keeps spilling into the evening, my article Working From Home but Never Switching Off? How to Reclaim the End of Your Day offers ways to create a clearer finishing point. An evening routine cannot repair unsafe working conditions or an unmanageable workload. It can, however, support a boundary around the part of your day that belongs to you.

Workplace support and healthcare can happen together

Do not wait for an equipment delivery or a manager’s response before seeking medical advice about persistent or worsening symptoms. Arrange a GP appointment if joint pain affects sleep or normal activities, keeps returning, worsens or has not improved after two weeks of home care. Morning joint stiffness lasting more than 30 minutes also deserves assessment. Explain the impact at work as well as at home.[8]

Seek urgent GP advice or contact NHS 111 for a hot, swollen painful joint, or joint pain with fever, shivering or feeling generally unwell. Go to A&E or call 999 for severe joint pain after injury, inability to walk or bear weight, a joint out of position, or tingling or loss of sensation around a joint after injury. These symptoms need timely care. A workplace adjustment is not a substitute for medical assessment.[8]

Your working day should leave something of you for the evening

It is easy to measure success by whether you managed to finish everything. You might have answered every message, supported everyone else and reached the end of your shift, yet have very little left for a walk, a friend or a comfortable evening. That cost deserves to be part of the conversation. Your wellbeing matters beyond your ability to stay productive.

Choose one step you can take this week: note the task that aggravates your symptoms, ask for a private conversation or find out how to access occupational health. You do not have to arrive with the perfect solution. You can begin by explaining what is happening and asking to work through it together. Needing support does not undo your capability; it gives you a chance to protect it.

This article provides general wellbeing and workplace information, not individual medical or legal advice. Employment guidance here focuses on Great Britain.

A little encouragement to put yourself back on the list

When you spend your working day meeting other people’s needs, your own wellbeing can become something you will deal with later. My free 7 Day Hormone & Wellness Reset, opening on 10 November 2026, offers a gentle opportunity to make space for yourself and build manageable everyday habits. It complements appropriate healthcare and workplace support, rather than replacing them. Join the interest list and I will let you know when we begin.

Join the free 7 Day Hormone & Wellness Reset interest list

Warm wishes, 

Monica