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Be it work from home or work from home, we often spend a considerable amount of our lifetimes working. If you are doing a desk job, you could be sitting and working in front of computers (or physical papers/records), etc for hours, without breaks.
As more than 80% of the world’s population is expected to end up with back issues sometime in their lifetimes, those who sit at a chair for a prolonged time show symptoms more often. You could be subjected to symptoms such as pain in the shoulders, back, and neck, joint pain, muscle strain, and even headaches to name a few.
It goes without saying, prolonged exposure to screens doesn’t just put you at risk of headaches and eye-related problems, it puts your back at an accelerated risk of developing acute and even chronic issues. Generally, making some lifestyle and workplace changes can help you break free of back and neck pain at the workplace.
If your job involves talking on a phone, you might spend hours talking to the customers or clients, probably cradling the phone between head and neck. Cradling the phone as such puts strain on the neck which ultimately triggers neck pain.
Instead, you can try answering the calls by plugging in earbuds. Since these are lightweight, wireless, and you don’t need to sit close to the phone or computer, you can simply use the time to stretch a bit.
If you spend a lot of time sitting and doing your work, it won’t take much time before your muscles begin to get fatigued, stiff, tight, and achy. It is because we usually sit with a hunched back and head facing forward which puts twice the strain on the lower back than it normally would.
However, there’s an easy way to tackle such situations. Take a break every half an hour or so. It doesn’t have to be a strenuous stretching session but you can indulge yourself in occasional strolling around the office. You can stretch a bit to alleviate stiffness in the muscles. It won’t just prevent you from feeling achy and pain in the neck and back but it protects you from injuries as well.
Sometimes, back problems are borne out of something as simple as a bad posture. What does a bad posture look like, you might ask? The ordinary setting includes sitting on a chair with a hunched back, head protruding forward, legs not touching the floor and the wrist at an awkward height and that’s what a bada posture looks like. Preserving a neutral position at the workplace becomes a task but it’s something that should be prioritized, always.
If you search for what’s good posture when standing, sitting, sleeping, or walking, you will find out that no matter what you are doing, there’s a ‘good posture’ associated with that activity. Having a good posture means there’s no excess pressure on that particular part of the body which reduces the chances of chronic pain and injury, especially the back.
We already mentioned that you need to stroll and stretch a bit every half hour or so. Turns out that simply standing up makes a lot of difference too. Google and you will find ‘standing desks’ that are designed so that you can have all your systems and assets on a desk and work standing upright.
Muscles are subjected to excessive strain especially when you sit for a long period. Here, the muscles around your neck and back are the sweet spots often resulting in neck and back pain. Turns out simply standing up can help drastically reduce such occurrences.
It also triggers other muscles that were otherwise lying dormant when you were sitting. You can even spice up the ‘standing desk’ with a treadmill so that you can walk and work but that’s optional.
There’s a workstation design that experts believe is of utmost importance as it supports the body, keeps it well-aligned, and takes off excessive pressure on the spine which is a potential cause of probably unending episodes of back pains.
The monitor on the desk should be at your arm’s length and in-line with your eye level.
The feet must be on the floor and not dangling. You can use a footrest if your feet can’t reach the floor.
The knees should be bent at 90 degrees and the thighs should be aligned parallel to the floor.
Your back needs support and thus, choose a chair that has lumbar support or buy it externally as it helps maintain the natural curves of the spine.
Your elbows should be supported by armrests or on the desks. You can invest a bit into mice since they can aggravate carpal tunnel syndrome. External keyboards can help you adjust the height of the keys and give your wrist adequate support when using a computer.
A bad posture is certainly not the only but it is one of the leading causes of neck and back pain. Other reasons include injury or it could be because of something serious such as osteoporosis, slipped disc, herniated disc, etc. Perhaps you might not feel the effects of sitting idle for hours with bad posture at the moment, however, the effects are evident as time passes by.
You can consider upgrading your workstation to provide adequate support to the back, neck, legs and wrist. Taking some time off from your phone or any screen for that matter and simply strolling in the office can work wonders in the long-run.
These were some of the tips that can help you prevent back and neck pain at the workplace. If that doesn’t resolve issues, consider reaching out to us at QI Spine Clinic, a leading neck and back specialist that will assist you with back-related issues so that you can venture out to live a normal pain-free life. Reach out to us at 086558 85566 for an appointment.
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