Most people who work in offices for long hours complain of neck and back pain. This is due to the poor posture they find themselves in, shifting weights and exerting pressure on these parts. Therefore, most of them opt for massages and chiropractic care. These can be helpful, but when the patient possesses a poor posture at work, they would still feel the pain. Therefore, alleviating the pain is essential as it can get severe when not treated. Below are some of the ways to avoid neck and back pain.
Practice Good Posture
It is essential to maintain a good posture when sitting or standing at work. A good posture means that you don’t round your back and lean the head forward or backward to exert pressure on the neck. When you round your neck, you will be exerting pressure on the spinal disc and causing strain on the lower back muscles. On the other hand, poor movement of the head cause strain on the neck muscles.
Always ensure that you maintain an upright posture. You need to ensure that your back is perpendicular to your legs when you sit. It would help if you kept the head straight and the ears over your shoulders. When you feel severe pain in your back, consider what those living in Michigan do and get spinal stenosis treatment in Michigan to treat the pain.
It can be hard to keep an upright posture naturally. Therefore, investing in an ergonomic chair would be an ideal way to achieve this. First, adjust the back of the chair to maintain an upright posture. Also, it would help if you changed the chair’s height so that your legs are slightly angled down. Such a posture will keep the weight evenly distributed in your body, reducing pressure on the sit bones.
Work While Standing
It is hard to maintain a good sitting posture. At most times, you will find yourself leaning forward. To make your office hours more productive, you can decide to reduce your sitting hours by working while standing. When standing, you keep an upright posture and distribute weight throughout the body. You can buy a standing desk to aid your standing position. You will need to have your desktop at eye level to avoid curving the back.
Keep Your Desktop at Eye Level
Most people complain about neck and back pain because they lean forward to read things on their desktops. Leaning forward will distort an upright posture exerting pressure on the neck and back. You can ensure that you have your desktop at an eye-level by investing in a suitable desk with a standard height. Also, you can adjust the height of your office chair to maintain the appropriate height. Some desktops have adjustable stands, and you can take this to your advantage and ensure that it is at your eye level.
At the same time, you will want to avoid pressure on your neck and shoulder when you type. When the mouse and keyboard are at a level higher or lower than the elbow level, you tend to feel a strain on your shoulder and neck. You can adjust the monitor to be at eye level but have the mouse and keyboard at elbow level.
Avoid Using Phone to Read Emails
Emails are one of the things you are likely to access when at work. You can access them via mobile phone or tablet, but you recommend that you use your desktop instead. With the desktop, you will maintain an upright posture, considering it is at eye level. However, accessing the email through the phone would mean that you bend forward to read letters. Sometimes, you find yourself tilting down your neck to read something from the phone. Such incidences accumulated pressure on the neck, thus the pain.
Walk Around
Walking around helps ease the pressure of sitting down the whole day. Sitting for long hours strains the muscles. On the other hand, it prevents proper circulation of blood in the body. However, when you walk around, you improve these two aspects.
Maintain a habit of walking around the office periodically. For instance, you can set the alarm for forty minutes. Then, whenever the alarm goes off, it reminds you that you need to take your walk. You will realize that you become more productive when you practice such a habit.
Relieving Back and Neck Pain
Back and neck pain has become a common complaint among people working long hours in the office. However, with the practice of good body posture and walking around the office, you can avoid these pains and improve your productivity.