Santa does not just hang
out at his desk for work! He’s out in
the world, in and out of a sleigh, enlisting
the assistance of others (elves and reindeer!) to do some
of the hard, back-wrecking work. However, he also works from his
home/workshop which surely creates stress and pain for him
like it does for the
rest of us who recently realized the dream of working from
home. However, we can learn from his example. He does not just lounge
at a desk. He gets help for challenging chores. He moves!
Poulin Chiropractic of Herndon and Ashburn urges all of our Ashburn
work-from-home friends to do the same as well as received
pain-decreasing chiropractic care
for the back pain, neck pain, shoulder, and other pain(s) you may now experience.
THE DREAM: WORK FROM HOME, LEARN AT HOME
Working from home. It was the dream of many…until the dream came true. There are some amazing
statistics on how work-from-home has changed so many
of us. One study of 232 telecom employees found that
39% had more pain in the low back, 48% in the upper back/neck, and 27% in their
hands. Only 33% said they did not have any such
musculoskeletal pain problems. (Women reported more issues than men.) 30% worked in a separate room
at home, 32% worked in a dedicated area of a room with
other people of the home, 38% worked in a non-separate area like
the dining room. 41% didn’t use an office
chair; 32% sat in an ergonomic chair. 71% were distracted
by constant or occasional disturbances.
52% worked longer hours. Only 30% took recurrent
breaks. (1) Students experienced much the same as the workers
did when their learning and teaching was undertaken
at home: low back pain for 73%, neck pain for 69%, shoulder pain for 59%. Influencing
factors for students were pain, academic stresses, personal/emotional issues,
work environment, and time in front of the computer. (2) For the
work-from-home dream to come true with as little pain as possible
demands some preparation. Your Ashburn chiropractor is
eager to help you prepare.
WORKING FROM HOME: THE SET UP
Any new venture needs a plan. Starting
without the plan backfires for many. 89% of
new-to-working-at-home workers who replied
to a survey reported some musculoskeletal pain.
Upper back pain was described as being a result of
nonergonomic work environments with non-favorable computer
configurations while nonergonomic postures were associated with headache and low back pain. (3) A study of university
employees documented that 61% of them had
more musculoskeletal pain working from home with neck, shoulder and low back
pain being the most frequent. Women stated
significantly more pain than men. The height of the seat an the distance of
the monitor were significant risk factors
for discomfort and pain in work-from-home employees. (4)
HOPE FOR NEW WORK-FROM-HOME PAIN
There is hope! Despite the new
work-from-home trend that resulted in more sedentary
lifestyles, reduced physical activity, and greater
musculoskeletal pain like back pain, researchers noted
that exercise and less sitting around successfully decreased
low back pain and even ‘cured’ it for participants in their study. (5)
Poulin Chiropractic of Herndon and Ashburn offers some simple, gentle exercises for our
Ashburn chiropractic patients. Start them after we do a thorough exam and you start experiencing
relief with our gentle chiropractic spinal manipulation care.
CONTACT Poulin Chiropractic of Herndon and Ashburn
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. John Murray on The
Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he describes
relieving chiropractic care for back and neck pain patients with The Cox®
Technic System of Spinal Pain Management on The Cox®8 Table.
Make your Ashburn chiropractic
appointment now. Be like Santa: move, delegate
the heavy lifting, adapt your workspace! Happy Holidays!