How to Prevent Back Pain when Working from Home.
Today we are talking all about how to Prevent Lower Back Pain as a lot of us have had to start working from home recently. For some its business as usual and are used to life at home, but for a lot of us this is brand new territory!
Back Pain is very common. It is estimated worldwide that 80% of people will experience some form of back pain at some point in your life. It’s actually rather easy to trigger off but managed badly it can last for ever. So it needs to right course of action early to stop this from happening. (Physio can help with this).
Generally pain is only ever felt when the body feels it has been overloaded beyond what it can normally tolerate (both physically & psychologically). So pain may not always mean you’ve caused structural damage, but rather your nervous system has been increasingly sensitised and in return sets an alarm off to warn you (just like triggering a sensor on a house or car alarm?) This explains why not everyone needs a MRI scan anymore!
Life right now for a lot of people must be pretty stressful having to change your working life (the news and social media don’t help with this either). Right now its the perfect breading ground for Back Pain to start creeping in and may stiffen or tighten up your back (probably caused by Bad Habits setting in!)
Common things that might cause your lower back to start hurting at home?
Too much sitting/slouching around on the sofa (or in bed) watching TV (Netflix!)
No proper desk to work at?
No proper routine - doing tasks as and when you feel like it
A lack of exercise
Poor sleep - as you are not doing as much activity
Wandering round your house in socks, slippers, flip-flops/crocs or just going barefoot (so you’re not wearing any real supportive footwear when on your feet?)
Watching too much news about COVID-19!!
How to prevent Back Pain from coming on at home?
Set a proper daily routine - treat each day like you would be going to work still. Have some structure when you start, stop for lunch and when you finish for the day.
Sort out a proper desk to work at (and don’t work off the sofa!)
Computer: If you are using a desktop PC or laptop then get your screen to eye level height (so you’re not stooping over the desk). Best way & quickest way to do this is to gets some books under the monitor and raise it up!
Desk/Chair: The desk wants to be about the height of a bent elbow when sat down in the chair. A chair with arms is good too if you are using a PC for long periods. Back support is purely down to you, the main things is the chair must be comfy to sit at. Foot position: as long as your feet are flat firmly on the ground you don’t need a foot rest. (just watch for bad habits e.g. crossing your legs or hooking your feet under the chair legs (we see quite a few hip injuries from people who do this!) **If you would like our help to get your Desk setup correctly then Get in Touch -HERE- We can do this remotely via our NEW physio Online Consultations to help make sure you are working from home well.
Schedule short breaks to get up and move more! - Research has proven that people that take regular short 5min breaks from their desk every 30-40mins are way more productive than people who only stop every 2-3 hours. Standing is the new sitting so maybe trying working stood up at the kitchen work top too (now and again). Our other handy tip is don’t leave everything right by your side, it will make you get up and move more!!
Hydrate well- drink lots of water (not as much tea of coffee as they just dehydrate you).
Get some exercise in when you can - this could be walking the dog out in the fresh air, doing some Gardening or DIY, an Online Fitness class (yoga, pilates or HITT etc) or just some basic daily back stretches?
Don’t binge on social media - there’s too much doom and gloom on there right now, which makes everyone feel anxious and stressed! Limit how much time you’re on there for!
So there you have it. Keeping a good planned routine should help you sleep well, keep you calm and allow you to work from home productively without the worry of back pain from coming on! If you are struggling with a bad back at the moment and would some help and advice, then click the button below to get in touch.