Now, more than ever, working from home has become the norm! We are committed to helping our patients maintain a healthy work-life balance with minimal impact on their posture and overall spinal health since ergonomics at home may not be the most ideal.
Sitting for long hours with poor posture can stress your musculoskeletal system (your muscles, joints and spine); therefore, it is essential to have a spinal hygiene practice in place to counteract the stress on your spine.
Follow the five steps below to take that load off your shoulders (quite literally):
1. Take a water break every 45 minutes to an hour to get up from your desk and walk. If this is impossible since your company loves hosting long zoom meetings, we suggest standing for half the meeting duration.
2. Adjust your screen, so you are looking at the top 25% of the monitor. You want to make sure there is no head tilt. If your chin is pointing upwards or downwards instead of being neutral, you have to change your screen or laptop height. Purchasing a laptop stand or placing books underneath your laptop can be useful.
3. Push your chair in towards your desk. This reduces the distance between your body and the workspace. Therefore, there is less tension on your neck musculature and joints.
4. Adopt a routine every morning and evening to stretch. Adopting a few yoga poses into your daily routine will go a long way! Cat/Cow pose, Child’s pose, and Pigeon pose are our go-to favourites! Check out the figures below to see how these poses are done.
Pigeon pose
Child pose
Cat pose
5. Come into the clinic for a chiropractic adjustment! Your Chiropractor will work with you to figure out areas of stress along your spine or other specific joints to release tension and increase your range of motion so you can carry on with your daily tasks!
Call or contact painPro today to schedule a visit and see how we can help you live a healthier, more mobile life.
