Back/neck pain -> headache with PW? Struggle with this when doing window cleaning

Hello there :slight_smile:

When doing window cleaning with a water fed pole, only up to say 4 floors a few hours, is enough for me to get a lot of pain in my back/neck that results in headache several days usually.
They have found out that I have scoliosis → my spine is bending a bit to the side.

How is that for PW? Do some of you struggle with back and neck pain when doing PW?
Since I’ve been doing quite a lot of window cleaning before, I thought of doing both window cleaning and PW to keep a steady income… We got snow here in the winters, so PW is out of the question for winter time…

I’ve now invested in PW equipment of about 10k usd, still missing a few bits for the full package. But I’m thinking about if I just have to put it all on the shelf because of pain, and looking ahead…

I come from a background in IT also, and the government here gives free education, and gives you money if you want to study more. There are also very kind options for student loans and stuff if I should choose a school that costs money.
So there are options in case PW will not work for my back/neck…

Just curious if others also have had challenges like this?

Have you tried belay glasses for the wfp work? I’ve heard some people have been helped a lot by using them.

I know we have at least a couple of window cleaners here who have (or are in the process of) transitioned to power washing for health related reasons.

Soft washing/low pressure house washing tends to be much easier on the body. Less ladder climbing, fewer repetitive fine motions, etc.

There are still things to watch out for: repetitive strain (carpal tunnel, mostly) from trigger guns. Bleach overspray can mess up your lungs over time if you don’t take some measures to protect yourself.

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I’ve have a bad back and knees due to an injury. I’ve even had a couple back surgeries. Sitting causes me more pain than being out pressure washing. I occasionally have days where I’m more sore than usual but it’s definitely not a daily occurrence. I can see where looking up all day cleaning windows could cause some pain. I think you’ll enjoy the pressure washing side.

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Same, scoliosis and 26 years of WC. Like Alex suggested I need to get some belay glasses for WFP use.

My shoulder blades hurt after a decent day of PW, try to stretch every so often.

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@Infinity Great advice, I seen them many times, but not tested them out myself, I should just order a pair to test out :slight_smile:

Good to know about carpal tunnel, at least I ordered Suttner’s LFT guns, hopefully they can be a bit more kind on the hand/arm…

Im still waiting for some bits, but I see you just put together your own igx700, and advice before installing / setup?

thanks man! hopefully it will be the same for me, better to be out and active… :slight_smile: