Did you know that even before COVID-19, 5.6 million people worked remotely in the UK? However, after COVID-19, the number increased rapidly as more and more organizations asked their employees to stay at home.
If you’re one of these workers, there’s a chance that you’re also suffering from back pain and aches that you previously never experienced at the office.
The reason behind this difference is that offices follow ANSI-HFS standards in their computer workstations designs, along with furnishing the office with ergonomic accessories and furniture.
Meanwhile, people who are working from home don’t have the space to adjust ergonomic office furniture in their residential settings. Neither do many of them have the means to invest in it.
Hence, if you’re working from home, there’s a high chance that you’re either using your computer on the kitchen countertop, a regular table, lounge sofa, or your bed. The conclusion is that none of these places facilitate healthy posture.
This can become a serious problem if you continue to work like this for a long time. Most organisations have asked employees to work from home even though pandemic restrictions are lifted.
If you’re physically drained from this routine or experiencing severe back pain, you’re potentially dealing with a musculoskeletal injury such as a backache or sore neck.
What is the solution for this? You can try keeping a neutral posture like a body position that’s neither awkwardly twisted nor bent. Besides that, take a break in between and move around to boost blood circulation.
We’ve listed some tips for you to make sure your work-from-home routine doesn’t cause lower back pain.
Use Computer Screen While Keeping Your Neck Straight
While using your computer, make sure it’s kept at a height that is aligned with your eyes so you don’t have to bend your neck. Have the top line of text levels with your eyes when you’re sitting up tall. This will help prevent neck pain.
Keep the Screen Beside a Bright Window, Not Opposite It
To reduce visual eye strain caused by glare retinal adaptation, keep in mind to keep your screen beside a bright window. When a computer screen is opposite to the light, it will cause a glare on the screen.
Don’t Spend Most of the Time in Bed
What’s worse than sitting on a chair while working? The bed. While you’re working on the bed chances are that your legs are working as support which means you’ll have to hunch over to view the screen.
If you’re looking for an expert osteopath in Edinburgh, connect with Gavin at the Active X Backs. He has more than 30 years of experience in osteopathy and knows all the tricks for back pain relief and lower back pain treatment.
Contact him for more details.
