With much of the workforce now operating from home, making do with whatever “office furniture” they have at their disposal, there are more and more people finding pain where they didn’t have it before. Neck pain. Back pain. Sciatic nerve pain. The effects of bad posture are being felt by people who never experienced these pains before.
It’s important to recognize the behaviors that are exacerbating bad posture and consequently creating pain. Preventing the effects of bad posture, and forming good work from home habits is paramount to living a pain-free life.
In this article, we will point out the ways bad posture leads to pain and discomfort. And what you can do in your home office to avoid bad posture – and deal with the resulting pain that follows bad posture habits.
Recognizing Bad Posture
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, about 42% of the American workforce is has transitioned to work-from-home procedures. Even though time has passed and many people working from home have arranged healthy semi-permanent office spaces, many others are sitting on couches, lounge chairs, even bean bags while conducting their duties from a laptop.
On the other hand, many workers are sitting crouched at their kitchen table or coffee table, hunched over their computers with their spine and neck contorted in ways that only be described as goblin-like.
Neither of these scenarios is ideal for healthy posture, and the effects of bad posture will be felt in a short-time by anyone keeping these bad posture habits in their daily routine.
Poor Neck Posture
Bad neck posture may be the most common posture issue for people working from home.
Bad neck posture typically stems from the inability to view monitors or screens at a proper viewing angle. Thus, the weight of your head compounds on your neck and shoulders.
This is the same concept as the dreaded “tech neck.” If you find yourself dropping your head and leaning forward most of the time to read monitors or phone screens, your neck and shoulders are compensating for the added weight of your head. This is terrible for your neck back and shoulders.
Aside from looking strange and uncomfortable, these poor posture habits will cause near-immediate neck pain. The long-term negative effects of bad neck posture are almost guaranteed if these habits aren’t broken.
If you are able to, prop up your computer monitor to be eye-level so you’re not looking down at them but instead straight at them.
This could be done by using a standing desk or if you don’t own one – set up your office computer at your kitchen counter. If this is not possible, put some books or binders under your monitors to prop them up to a good height for readable positioning.
Curious About The Healing Methods Chiropractors Use?
Read Our Blog: What Is a Chiropractic Adjustment? Benefits & Uses
Spinal Compression and Sciatica Nerve Pain
Back pain can be caused by different activities, bad habits, lifestyle choices, and injuries. Over 80% of the population suffers some form of back pain in their lifetime, and each type of back pain has its own particularly nagging issues associated with it.
The effects of bad posture in the home workspace have become clear for many chiropractic offices since COVID began.
Patients with sciatica, or pain in the sciatic nerve have arrived at chiropractic offices at a higher rate than they had pre-COVID.
Sciatica is when the sciatic nerve in the lower back/ hips gets pinched for one reason or another. Now that much of the workforce is sitting at home, potentially in one seat for 8+ hours a day, there’s more compression put on the lower back and spine. This can increase the chances of herniation within the spinal disks.
Whether it’s a herniates disk, or the nerve and surrounding connective tissue catching on bone or cartilage, either way, the pain is debilitating. It feels like electric “shock” running down the leg and though the lower back, and good posture can prevent it from happening.
The increase in sedentary lifestyle and a decrease in casual exercises, like walking on your commute, has had negative effects on our muscles, ligaments, tendons, and overall posture.
Too much strenuous activity, like heavy lifting, can also cause sciatica problems, so it’s important to keep good posture and exercise intermittently throughout the day/week.
One or two hard workouts a week juxtaposed to an almost entirely sedentary existence can put you at risk for injury.
Start Forming Good Posture Habits
Developing good posture is similar to forming any good habits – progress is made with recognition, diligence, and practice. Forming better posture habits while working from home may not come overnight, but with a little dedication, you will be amazed at how your body responds.
To learn more about how our Chiropractic services can help you gain relief and learn to practice better posture habits – please contact us.