Batik-making is more than simply drawing motifs onto a piece of cloth. Behind every stroke of the canting, a traditional wax pen, lies a job that demands precision, patience, and hours spent in the same working position.
For batik makers, bending over for extended periods, sitting with little movement, or standing while lifting a batik stamp can become part of their daily routine. Many complain of aches and pain in the back, shoulders, neck, and lower back. Yet such complaints are often dismissed as a normal consequence of the job.
It was cases like these that prompted Arif Pristianto, S.St.FT., M.Fis., a lecturer in the Physiotherapy Program at Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta (UMS), to study musculoskeletal disorders among batik makers in Kampung Batik Laweyan, Solo.
Conducted in 2024, the study did more than document the batik makers' complaints. It also found that age was not the main factor behind their musculoskeletal problems.
Instead, working posture and body position had a much greater influence on the emergence of pain and other musculoskeletal complaints.
“At first, we were developing Community Physiotherapy, which is one of the strengths of UMS' Physiotherapy program. When we entered the batik-making community, we found something interesting. Batik isn't just about writing on cloth. It's a long process, and every stage involves a different working position,” Arif said on Thursday (27/8/2026).
Arif and his team did not focus solely on hand-drawn batik makers. They examined the entire production process, from pattern makers and canting artisans to dyers and stamped-batik makers.
“Our observations showed that each division has a distinct pattern of complaints,” he explained.
Stamped-batik makers more often reported pain in the shoulders, neck, and legs because they have to stand while repeatedly lifting heavy copper stamps. Hand-drawn batik makers who create the initial patterns reported more back pain from repeatedly bending over large pieces of fabric. Meanwhile, canting artisans, who draw the motifs with wax, reported more complaints in the shoulders, wrists, back, and buttocks, largely because they spend long periods sitting.
These findings came from Arif's interviews with 60 batik makers. He measured pain intensity using the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS), mapped musculoskeletal complaints using the Nordic Body Map (NBM), and assessed ergonomic risks using the Workplace Ergonomics Risk Assessment (WERA), along with functional measurements of several body regions.
The results showed that most of the batik makers experienced mild to moderate musculoskeletal complaints. Interestingly, age was not the main factor determining whether they developed these problems.
Instead, greater attention should be paid to the relationship between working posture and the risk of pain. The more ergonomically unfavorable the working position, the greater the risk of developing musculoskeletal complaints.
According to Arif, this finding is significant because many batik makers, as well as workers in other sectors, have long assumed that work-related aches and pains are simply a consequence of aging.
“What’s interesting is that every stage of batik-making has its own working posture, work pattern, and work environment, which in turn produces different kinds of complaints. They can occur in the neck, shoulders, lower back, arms, or even the legs,” he said.
Arif’s findings are reflected in the experience of Ngatmi (57), a hand-drawn batik maker at Batik Mahkota Laweyan. Although she is now in her later years, Ngatmi said she had already frequently experienced aches and pains from batik-making when she was younger.
Having learned to use the canting when she was in the fourth grade of elementary school, Ngatmi is accustomed to working in a seated position for hours at a time. “The pain I feel most often is in my back and shoulders,” Ngatmi said.
Her complaints do not necessarily occur every day. But when she has to sit for too long to finish an intricate motif, her body eventually begins to ache.
“If it goes on for a while, yeah, everything aches. I usually stand up for a bit and do some stretching. That makes my body feel a little better,” she said.
Ngatmi’s experience shows that physical strain does not always come from heavy labor. Activities that appear relatively light, such as sitting while applying wax with a canting, can place continuous strain on the same muscle groups when performed repeatedly in a static position without adequate breaks.
Arif stressed that musculoskeletal disorders are not a problem unique to batik makers. Similar complaints are increasingly common among office workers who spend hours in front of computers, as well as among people whose jobs require prolonged static or repetitive movements.
“The main problem is when the body remains static. The muscles keep contracting without enough opportunity to relax, so over time they become stiff and painful,” he explained.
Pain can be reduced through stretching, education, and changes in work habits. However, if workers return to the same activities with poor posture, the complaints can recur.
“That can be minimized through exercise, stretching, and education before and after work. But because the cause is the activity itself, when the same activity continues to be done incorrectly, the complaints can flare up again,” he said.
Arif provided education and training to workers on the importance of taking short movement breaks every 30 minutes to an hour. Standing up briefly and moving the neck, shoulders, back, or legs, he said, is far better than remaining seated or standing in the same position continuously.
Given the high number of complaints identified in the field, Arif and the UMS Physiotherapy team are now preparing a follow-up program, a dedicated health service center for batik makers in Kampung Batik Laweyan.
The program, currently being proposed through a grant scheme, will be carried out in collaboration with the Laweyan Batik Village Development Forum and involve personnel from various health disciplines. Rather than simply providing check-ups and physiotherapy services, the program will also bring health education directly to batik production centers.
“We understand that batik makers find it difficult to leave their work, because every hour is very valuable to them. So instead, the education will come to them and be delivered at their workplaces. We hope this can provide check-ups, therapy, counseling, and education all at once, so their complaints can be reduced,” Arif explained.
The initiative has been welcomed by batik makers, including Ngatmi. For her, education on healthier working practices could help batik makers reduce the aches and pains that have long been regarded as simply part of the job.
Writer: Genis Dwi Gustati
Translator: Farizal Luqman Majid
Editor: Al Habiib Josy Asheva
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