Working from home can sometimes have an unwanted side-effect – back pain. When you are working from home it can be hard to draw a hard line between where work ends and downtime begins. You may find yourself sitting for longer stretches than usual at your desk or working odd hours. Lower back pain causes are numerous but this modified lifestyle can take its toll sooner than you’d think.
How To Prevent Back Pain While Working From Home
Taking time to carefully check how your workstation is set up to give the best back support and prevent poor posture, being mindful of the time spent at the desk, and staying active can all help prevent a bad back. Here’s how to get that balance right.
#1 Get A Good Chair
Even if you are unable to invest in a new desk or computer, it is well worth getting yourself a good ergonomically designed chair to support your back well. Ensure your chair is height adjustable so that you can bring it up or down to suit your height. Try and pick one that has adjustable lumbar support so you can place it where it best supports your back. If the lumbar support is fixed, test the chair and see if that position works for you. If the chair has a five-pedestal base it is more stable, choose a chair with this balance .
#2 Set Up Your Workstation Correctly
The position of your monitor as well as the height of your desk and whether or not your feet touch the ground comfortably matters. Ensure your gaze lines up with the centre of your computer screen and isn’t above or below that. Your desk and chair heights need to allow your elbows to rest comfortably at a 90-degree angle . Your thighs should be parallel to the ground and your feet must reach the floor and rest flat – if this isn’t the case, get a footrest that enables this posture .
#3 Do Back-Strengthening Exercises
If you experience lower back pain while working from home, remember it is not just about avoiding triggers but also about strengthening your body so that it doesn’t cave so easily.
Typical exercises may include head and neck exercises, kneeling back extension, sitting rotation stretch, knee to chest exercise, pelvic tilts, leg slides, hip bridge, and the modified side plank.
#4 Try Yoga To Relax Muscles
After hours of sitting in the same position or keeping poor posture, your muscles become taut and painful making any movement hard. Yoga can help improve your flexibility and relieve tense muscles besides toning and strengthening them . Yoga asanas like the bridge pose, camel pose, cat pose, cow pose, downward-facing dog, and bow pose are great for back pain .
#5 Take Regular Breaks And Be Active
Even when you do get your posture right, staying in that position for several hours can be bad for your back. Acute lower back pain has been linked to bouts of prolonged sitting, but frequent quick standing breaks to change position may counter this .
Be sure to get up and stretch, walk around, or just change position every now and then. You could set reminders on your phone, use an app, or just get up and walk every half hour or so . Try to take phone calls while walking around the room/house. Use a standing desk intermittently in your workday.
Topical Pain Relief For Your Back Pain
Back pain while working from home is fairly common. Thankfully there is one quick and easy way to relieve some of that discomfort – topical pain relief remedies. A pain spray like Omnigel spray or its gel variant Omnigel is a simple solution to lower back pain. Simply apply to the back and let it wash away the tension, ease inflammation, reduce stiffness, and free you of the debilitating pain that lower back aches can bring. Take a few minutes out of your day to apply the remedy so you can return to your work, minus the pain. Omnigel can be used for muscle and joint pain 2-3 times a day or as recommended by a doctor.
Pick up Omnigel and Omnigel spray at a pharmacy near you or order online – they are a must-have for anyone who is working from home or prone to back pain.
