Here’s to Your Health Ladies

Copyright Sandy Long

There are many things that affect a trucker’s body whether male or female. There are some things that affect lady drivers alone though and these issues are rarely discussed anywhere. Most of the problems come from the vibration of the truck, some from the constant upper body work we do, a few from the seats we sit on, and others from the jostling we take from rough roads. We will start from the top to the bottom.

Most women entering the industry are not as used to hard physical labor as men are so things like carpel tunnel problems, bursitis in elbows and shoulders and back problems are also slightly more often found among lady drivers. Taking breaks, changing dominate hands on the wheel and exercising will help lesson the chance of these types of injuries and conditions.

By the grace of Mother Nature’s design, we have breasts. When you first start to drive, you use many chest and shoulder muscles that support the breasts that you haven‘t used extensively before. This over usage until you get used to it may cause tenderness and even pain in the breast area. A good bra is tantamount. A good bra not only provides support to assist those muscles to adapt, but also will help with a problem some women get of chaffing or even skin yeast infections under their breasts. Washing under your breasts every day with a mild antibacterial soap, drying thoroughly and using a medicated powder will also help stop this problem.

For larger lady drivers, this same skin yeast infection may occur in other areas of our body such as in folds of skin around our stomachs, backs and thighs. The same preventive measures should be taken specially in the hotter months. If this condition persists however, go see your doctor for medication and some tests. Skin yeast infections can be symptomatic of diabetes.

One of the most prevalent conditions that happen to women is fallen bladder syndrome. This is where the bladder actually loosens and falls through the cradle of muscle that holds it in place. The initial symptoms of this may be frequent urination, abdominal pain and bladder infections. There are some things you can do to prevent this problem. If you are familiar with the Kegel exercises, they might help, check with your doctor. Doing careful sit ups also will help to strengthen the abdominal muscles and stopping when you first need to urinate is always a good idea. Worse case scenario, you will have to have surgery to replace your bladder where it should be.

Kidney and bladder infections are very prevalent amongst drivers, women specially because we do not have the ease that men do to find a place to go when we have to. Holding it for too long can cause infections to set in. There are as many ways of taking care of this problem before infection occurs as there are lady drivers. Porti potties, female urinals and plastic cups poured into a larger container for proper disposal later are a couple of them. Also, because of this problem of available facilities, many women don’t drink enough fluids in a day. Drink plenty of water and if you start feeling any pain upon urination, don’t wait…see a doctor immediately.

Sitting on vinyl seats in one position for hours at a time, wearing too tight of slacks, jeans or pants, and wearing polyester underwear and slacks or jeans can cause other types of infections in private areas. Don’t fool around if you get one of these, go to the doctor, change your wardrobe to cotton or mostly cotton blend and buy a seat cover for your seat preferably sheepskin or a thick cotton material. Stand up and stretch every couple of hours or at least raise yourself a little out of the seat to allow the heat from the vinyl out. Because of the stress of our jobs, irregular sleep patterns and poor nutrition, lady driver’s cycles may not be as regular as non driving ladies. Not much you can do about it except always be prepared.

Poor circulation in legs is a problem for both genders, but women tend to wear tighter jeans than men do. Sitting in one position with tight jeans creasing into your thighs can cut off circulation in a very short time causing problems from varicose veins to blood clots. Save the skin tight jeans if you have to wear them, for those times you are laid over or going in to kill time in the truck stop. I suggest wearing stretch denim jeans for day to day wear and reposition yourself often as you drive. Wiggle your toes every few minutes and rotate your ankles if you are on cruise every once in awhile. These things will help promote your blood to circulate.

Take care of yourself on the road better than you would if you had a job at home. Your safety, health and well being are not only important to your continuation of your driving career, but also to the public in general. The last advice I can give you is this: If you hurt, don’t feel well or are having things go on with your body that are suspicious or unusual, go to the doctor as soon as possible and get checked out…an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!

Ya’ll take care and be safe!

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