Santa doesn’t just sit at a desk for work! He is out exploring
the world, in and out of a sleigh, arranging
the help of others (elves and reindeer!) to do some
of the hard, back-breaking work. However, he also works from his
home/workshop which surely brings him similar stresses and pain like it does for the
rest of us who now realize the dream of working from
home. However, we can learn from his example. He does not just sit
at a desk. He gets help for challenging chores. He moves!
Chiropractic Care encourages all of our West Palm Beach
work-from-home friends to do the same as well as arrange
pain-decreasing chiropractic treatment
for the back pain, neck pain, shoulder, and other pain(s) you may now have.
THE DREAM: WORK FROM HOME, LEARN AT HOME
Working from home: the dream of many…until the dream came true. There are some amazing
statistics on how work-from-home has altered 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 issues. (Women said
that they experienced more issues than men.) 30% worked in a separate room
at home, 32% worked in a separate section 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 bothered
by constant or occasional disruptions.
52% put in more work hours a day. Only 30% took recurrent
breaks. (1) Students experienced much the same as did workers when their learning and teaching was performed
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 with the computer. (2) For the
work-from-home dream to come true with less pain
demands some preparation. Your West Palm Beach chiropractor is
ready to help you prepare.
WORKING FROM HOME: THE SET UP
Any new venture necessitates a plan. Beginning
without the plan backfires for many. 89% of
new-to-working-at-home workers who replied
to a survey stated some musculoskeletal pain.
Upper back pain was described as being a result of
nonergonomic work environments with suboptimal computer
configurations while nonergonomic postures were linked to headache and low back pain. (3) A study of university
employees found that 61% of them experienced
more musculoskeletal pain working from home with neck, shoulder and low back
pain being the most often experienced. Women reported
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! Regardless of the new
work-from-home trend that prompted more sedentary
lifestyles, decreased physical activity, and greater
musculoskeletal pain like back pain, researchers remarked
that exercise and less sitting around successfully cut
low back pain and even ‘cured’ it for participants in their study. (5)
Chiropractic Care offers some simple, gentle exercises for our
West Palm Beach chiropractic patients. Start them after we perform a thorough exam and you start noticing
relief with our gentle chiropractic spinal manipulation care.
CONTACT Chiropractic Care
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.
Schedule your West Palm Beach chiropractic
appointment soon. Be like Santa: move, get help with
the heavy lifting, adapt your workspace! Happy Holidays!