10 Tips to Stay Safe from Backpain as you Work From Home in Pandemic Period

Now is the time in 2020 where you are spending most of your time at home and it’s already been more than 10 months since the pandemic hit us severely.

There’s no other alternative except to stay home and do our jobs, take care of home, family and practice the three Ws. (Wash hands, watch social distance and wear a mask)

Though work from home opportunity comes as a new wave where rushing to office is no longer a routine and initially that was kind of welcome change.

You set new rules for yourself, get a desk, set your pc or laptop and set timings to work online. 

Go on zoom, facebook messenger or whatsapp or cloud platform and start working, attend meetings with your boss, and do your job, similar to how you worked from your office earlier.

88% of companies have encouraged employees to work from home as a result of pandemic. Nearly 97% of organizations have cancelled their travel plans. Now 1 in 6 U.S. workers, that is nearly 26 million people or more are working from home and in the near future, it is expected to grow to a greater number.

This is in fact a welcoming development that is allowing the workforce to use technology from home and deliver work. This is where we can endow and convey our appreciation to technology. 

Having said that, the new work from home brought new health challenges and one of that is back pain. 

Whether a tiny apartment or a  house, accommodating space for your work becomes a necessity as a part of your daily chore. Sometimes, you may even find your kitchen countertop, lounge chair or your bed as your workplace.  Here comes a challenge and that is a healthy posture. 

For a short period of time, it may be okay, you need not worry and if it is for months, just like in this pandemic, remote work can in fact bring you a major health issue of back pain and you begin to realize that it may become a chronic pain. This is the most common thought process for millions of workers. 

You may encounter neck pain, cramps, cracking shoulders, bad back and such other mild body aches sometimes. 

What would you do at that time? 

How to get rid of these in the normal process of our routine?

Here, there are finely themed 10 good tips that you can practice to stay safe from back pain and stay refreshed. 

By following these tips, you can safeguard your health and enjoy your work on a daily basis and take a quick short break in between to resume your work from home tasks. 

1.Sit straight to view your system screen

Place your laptop or desktop at a comfortable height and be seated in a well-positioned chair and sit straight. Place your keyboard and mouse to your front ensuring that your neck is facing your screen. If you are working on a laptop, support your back to rest your hands, arms and posture of the seat in a straight angle, so that you do not hurt your back.

1. Avoid eye strain

Avoid facing a window as you would be staring at the light and it is possible that glare on the screen would cause eye strain. Close the windows, shades or drapes and keep off from a glass table. 

1. Put your neck straight to handle paper documents 

Use a paper holder or if you are using an iPad, place it on a stand to read the docs. Never read from an iPad or papers that are flat on your table or your head will have to move constantly.

1. Comfortable height for your keyboard and mouse or touchpad 

If you are using a laptop at a good height, use a separate keyboard and mouse. Ensure that you can use keyboard and mouse with your forearms and hands level straight, ensuring that your arm is close to the side of your body while you use the mouse.

The purpose here is - avoid too much stretching or bending or turning frequently that causes strain to your neck thereby developing a backache. 

1. Avoid using a soft wrist rest 

Although it may appear that you are receiving good support, any compression beneath your wrist can increase the risk of carpal tunnel syndrome.

1. Interchange between typing/mousing and using voice input 

While voice recognition is greatly in use and good for most text and emails, it allows your arms, wrists and hands time to rest. 

1. Sit back in your chair

Avoid hunch forward in your chair and don’t try to sit upright. The best relaxed posture is when your lower back curves in toward your belly and it puts the least pressure on the intervertebral discs in that area. 

When you lean forward, the lumbar spine bends out and that puts a lot of pressure on the discs. 

Make sure you can sit back in your chair so some part of your body weight gets the support by the chair back and sit close enough to comfortably reach your keyboard and mouse. 

If your chair does not offer good lower-back support, use a cushion or rolled-up towel behind your lower back. 

1. Rest your feet flat either on the floor or a foot support while sitting

If your feet do not reach the floor, use a cushion or footrest. Be seated comfortably.  Any pressure on thighs restricts blood flow to your lower legs and feet increases your risk of deep vein thrombosis. 

1. Avoid too much of work sitting on bed

Bed appears attractive to work, experts say that it is not recommended. You may have to hunch over to view your screen and this causes a direct backache. Some of the common posture is that you sit on bed legs crossed or extended horizontally, supporting your laptop. If a bed is the only option you have, place a pillow behind your back to rest against the headboard and put your laptop on a cushion in your lap. Another alternative is to get a low table for the laptop that can go over your legs so you can type at a comfortable height without straining your neck.

Standing desks require long standing and sometimes it may appear as a better option to avoid backache. But it requires more energy than sitting and also puts a high strain on the circulatory system, legs and feet. 

You can stand to take calls for a while or stand, stretch and move around every 20 or 30 minutes to relax muscles. 

You can also take a walk to make a cup of tea or coffee or have a glass of water. But avoid working for hours while standing on your feet. It drains your energy levels.

Conclusion

Following these tips for your SOHO (Small office - Home office) and you’ll do great.  Move around a little bit before you get back to your chair.