{"id":591,"date":"2020-09-07T20:36:15","date_gmt":"2020-09-08T03:36:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kbphysio.ca\/?p=591"},"modified":"2020-11-08T17:26:07","modified_gmt":"2020-11-09T01:26:07","slug":"work-from-home-ergonomics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kbphysio.ca\/work-from-home-ergonomics\/","title":{"rendered":"Work from Home Ergonomics: Postures & Easy Exercises for Pain Prevention"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Today we explore the most common conditions seen in people who work from home offices, some of which include poor posture, wrist pain, neck ache, back ache and more. Learn how to spot these injuries, and go through a lot of tips and exercises to prevent them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sitting for a lengthy period of time is unhealthy. It leads to aches and pains in various parts of the body. If you add a sedentary lifestyle to the mix, it creates a risk for developing medical conditions like cardiovascular disorders, diabetes, obesity, and more. Further, standing for an extended period is also detrimental since it can lead to varicose veins and leg fatigue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the increase in use of technology at home and at workplace, many people and employers are embracing ergonomics into their workspace setup to prevent injuries. We see the growing use of adjustable workstations like sit-to-stand desks and chairs, ergonomic mice and keyboards, monitor reflectors and screen protectors, and flexible desk arrangement for phones, tablets, and document holders. Sadly, without adequate guidance on how to fine tune your setup, you can still hurt yourself and need treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Common Work from Home Problems & Signs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The most common problems affect muscles, bones, joints, ligaments, nerves, blood vessels or soft tissue. In physical therapy, we group these into Musculoskeletal Injuries (MSI). Some common reasons for them to happen are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 a) Repetitive movements\u2014like frequent bending of your wrist forward or backward when using mouse or keyboard causes compression of nerves as they pass through wrist joints (can lead to carpal tunnel syndrome). Common symptoms are tingling \/ numbness in hands and difficulty in grasping objects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

b) Poor posture\u2014bending your neck forward and sitting in a hunched position causes muscle fatigue. When continued for longer duration, it leads to tightness in one group of muscles and weakness in the opposite group of muscles. This muscle imbalance produces pain, spasm, and discomfort in your neck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

c) Static position\u2014if you are sitting in one position for too long during work or are driving, muscles switch on to hold the position. When you continue this for a few hours, muscles tire out leading to strain from overworking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We recommend you always listen to your body. It will signal to you, be it sudden or gradual, when something is not right. Most common discomforts include upper back and neck pain, shoulder and elbow pain, wrist and hand pain, low back pain and lower leg pain. Pay special attention to cramps, aches, and stiffness. You may feel tingling or numbness in the area because of irritation of your nerves. Heaviness or pressure in an area implies issues related to blood vessels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vision<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The next frequent problem I treat concerns vision. Our increasing digital life (at work and then at home) makes it hard to give our eyes some rest. Focusing at a screen for an extended period puts stress on your eyes as does moving your eyes constantly. The continuous use of your eye muscles tires them out. This can lead to headaches, eye fatigue, blurry vision, and dry eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Any stress, physical or mental, will affect your ability to function and maintain a high quality of life. To keep these in check, I recommend few best practices and exercises:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Work from home setup<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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