Working From Home and Sitting All Day? Chiropractors Share Tips to Avoid Back and Neck Pain

Sitting has become the most common posture in the workplace since the emergence of digital technology. Most office workers spend an average of 7 hours a day sitting in front of their computers. Unfortunately, poor sitting posture is one of the primary causes of neck and back pain. Craning your neck over the monitor can misalign your spine. Slouching in your chair also puts extra strain on your neck and back muscles, causing them to overstretch. Do you work from home and often sit all day? Avoid unnecessary pain now with these useful tips from our trusted chiropractors:

1. Work at a Suitable Height and Distance. Avoid hunching over your computer screen. If you can, use a laptop stand or an external monitor. Your eye line should be level with your web browser’s address bar. This can help save you from neck and shoulder strain. Also, find a distance that lets your elbows fall over the table surface naturally. This keeps your wrists aligned better, preventing risk of nerve impingement or compression.

2. Use an Office Chair. If possible, buy a chair with adjustable features. This ensures good neck and lumbar support. If you don’t want to give up on your current chair just yet, you can still improvise. Put some sort of firm cushioning under your hind part like a tightly folded bath towel to support and hoist your hips. This helps increase the curvature of your spine, allowing you to sit more comfortably.

3. Don’t Let Your Feet Dangle. Another way to reduce pressure on your backbone is to let your feet rest on the floor. If not possible, place some objects under your desk like books or shoe boxes. This way, your thighs are still parallel to the ground, with your hips a little bit more elevated than your knees.

4. Designate a Workstation. Find a convenient space in your house that you can make entirely your own. If possible, customize that area to fit you. Sharing your workspace means you’d have to make adjustments to the layout each time you sit down. If you’re the only person using the space, arrange your desk, computer, and chair, to your height. This can help improve productivity and reduce discomfort from prolonged sitting.

5. Follow the 20-20-20 Rule. Aside from your neck and back, you may also strain your eye muscles. Give your visual system a break by following this practice. It means you need to look at an object 20 feet away from you for about 20 seconds. Do this every 20 minutes spent doing close work like working on your computer. The 20-20-20 rule limits symptoms associated with computer vision syndrome. These often include eyestrain, headaches, as well as neck, shoulder, and back pain.

6. Get Up and Move. It might be tempting to only snack throughout the day on your workstation. But getting up to prepare a meal or drink water allows you to move and walk around. What matters is to take as many steps as you possibly can during the day, even if you’re just at home. Whenever you can, get up and walk for a couple of minutes every hour. Not only will this activity let your eyes rest from staring at your screen for hours on end. But these short bouts of light exercise can also offset the adverse effects of prolonged sitting on your overall health.

Do you need more work-from-home tips from our qualified chiropractors? Visit Cashae Spine & Sports in Silver Spring, Maryland, today for more information.