Working from Home
I've been receiving quite a few enquiries about when we are able to return to treating hands on, many of you are suffering with back aches whilst working from home-some attributed to overzealous gardening, exercise and some could be desk set up. Gary and I are awaiting Government's guidance on when we are allowed to re-open the clinic. This week I thought I would give you some tips about setting your workstation up at home.
Working from home has many benefits, the biggest possible one being the short commute. For some of you there will be less distractions, for others more (kids, other household members, home schooling). You may have time for a more leisurely breakfast and possibly less spent on tea, coffee and lunches. However, working from home also has its own challenges :
Technology, whilst great does not always work.
Projects can take longer a quick question can become an essay by email.
It can be hard to switch off from work, especially if you do not have the advantage of a dedicated ‘home office’.
Long periods of sitting can play havoc with your neck, back, arms and legs.
I’m going to look at the measures you can take around movement and desk space.
Our bodies are designed to move in all directions, flexing forwards, backwards, sideways, rotating, reaching, pushing. Our movements are generally created by muscles contracting and causing movement around a joint.
Sitting uses muscles in and about:
Back to keep us upright,.
Hips, knees and ankles to flex our thigh, knee and ankle into the shape required by the chair we sit on. If standing then we use muscles that help us to stand, in whatever position we stand in.
Arms/Shoulders to flex/extend/reach to our keyboard.
Wrists, hands and fingers to type, pick up the phone, turn pages etc
Eyes to focus
Jaw for talking and possibly gritting our teeth when technology challenges us!.
Constantly using a muscle without rest, will cause the muscle to fatigue, we then find that those muscles are ‘stuck’ when we try to move or change position and it may take us a little longer to move and may even cause pain or discomfort.
Having worked in finance for a number of years, I am all too familiar with the pain caused by sitting for long periods- in my 20s, my posture was not the best at my desk and muscles in my back and arms got so tight that I developed severe wrist pain and couldn’t even hold a cup- my hand would just open and the cup would fall…..8 weeks of physio taught me to improve my posture at my desk and the importance of moving in between periods of sitting!
Desk Set up:
Computer screen should ideally be straight infront of you at eye level, so that your head does not need to tilt up, tilt down or stay in a rotated position throughout the day..
You should have sufficient room to rest your arms (elbows to wrists) infront of you when you are not typing.
You should not need to either reach for the keyboard or hunch over it.
If there are arm rests on your chair, they should be at a height that allows the chair to slide fully under your desk, and allow your elbows to hang freely at your side (not cause you to hunch your shoulders or slouch)
Ideally your hips should be slightly higher than your knees (sofa that sinks back is your worst nightmare), your feet should be able to rest on the floor and your back should be supported.
What you can do if you don’t have the most ideal chair
Move as much as possible in between periods of sitting.
Use cushions to raise the height of your hips.
Use stools, boxes or even text books to bring the floor closer to your feet.
Roll up a towel or soft blanket to support your lower back.
To reduce the strain on your eyes, reduce or minimize glare by closing blinds, or using an anti-glare screen which can be placed over your screen. You can mirror your computer screen with a larger screen/TV by using an HDMI cable. In between bouts of physical movement, also take the time to exercise the muscles around your eyes – look far ahead into the distance, up to the ceiling, down to the floor and side to side, you can also circle your eyes (take this one slowly as it can make you dizzy).
Take regular breaks throughout the day to walk a little and during this time mobilise your joints from head to toe.
Before you head out the door to run, cycle or whatever sport you enjoy- take some time to move in every direction, allow your nervous system to get used to the idea that you’re about to challenge it. When you get back, take some time to allow your nervous system to settle, calm down, gently moving from head to toe, allow your breath to be smooth.
Yoga and Pilates are great for helping to build strength in the muscles that support our posture, whilst providing exercises which takes the body through all planes of movement.
If yoga is your thing I currently have weekly group classes running on zoom.
If pilates is your thing I have friends who are running classes through zoom.
Stay safe and well
Sharon
An example of some modifications you can make to your home set up. Some of you may well be able to get or already have a 'docking station' from your employer...
