Relieving the Pain with Ergonomics
With the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of work-from-home employees has significantly escalated, especially those with non-essential tasks. If you are one of them and this work setting is new to you, you may be experiencing repetitive body aches and muscle strains that you have never had before in the office. People often put the blame on their heavy workloads and hastened deadlines, but in fact, the standard types of workstations could possibly exacerbate it.
In efforts to find solace, many turned to ergonomics. Ergonomic furniture and accessories promote a comfortable and safe working environment. However, in most residential settings, accommodating and investing in ergonomics can be far from possible.
Some workers deem integrating ergonomics in their home offices as uneconomical and impractical. If you are placing your desktop monitor or laptop on a regular table or lounging in your chair or bed while facing the screen, there might be no need to worry. Sometimes, working from home is about less formality and more on the working positions you deem comfy. These activities are okay, however, for only short periods.
What about prolonged hours on a daily basis that have been lasting for months?
Work-from-home or remote working does not spare the standard working hours. That’s a fact. Even after this pandemic has passed, this work setting may be a fragment to the elements of the new normal.
When you are still on the verge of doubting, think of the chronic physical strains that you have been experiencing since adapting to the remote work setting. Treating it with home or medical remedies can be frustrating.
Why treat or suffer from it when you can prevent it?
Working in a neutral posture where your body is rested comfortably and no part of it is awkwardly bent or twisted can help you prevent these repetitive strains. Avoid sedentary positions. Move around and stretch your body to allow blood circulation. For additional tips, here are 9 ways that you can do to promote beneficial postures and completely relieve yourself from these physical strains.
1. Place your computer screen and necessary documents on a height that prompts your neck to stay upright.
The appropriate and comfortable viewing height is determined by the position of your neck. If your monitor screen forces you to hunch over and bend your neck, physical strains typically occur. The same goes when you place your keyboard and mouse to the side of your monitor screen that prompts you to twist your neck. Make sure to use a stack of books or any alternative tools to elevate your screen into your comfortable eye and neck level.
In regards to viewing necessary documents, electronic or papers, if there is a need for you to go back and forth between the screen and separate reading material, use a vertical document holder or stand. This keeps your neck and head from constantly moving up and down.
2. Keep your keyboard and mouse in an easy reach.
When you’ve raised your screen, the next thing you can do is use an external keyboard. To avoid neck, forearms, and shoulder strains, put your keyboard and mouse at a comfortable height and distance in front of you. Your forearms and hands must stay level and straight. Also, your arms must keep close to the corners of your body when using a mouse. This prevents your nerves from being compressed. Keep your keyboard and mouse close to your reach because overreaching can cause muscle strains on your hands, wrists, and shoulders.
3. Put your screen on the side of your window.
Working with your back to a window or directly facing it may instigate eyestrains and partial retinal adaptation because the light that comes in can improperly affect your viewing. Place it on sideways of the window for better lighting.
4. Use not too firm but not too soft wrist rests.
Wrist rests and palm supports sound beneficial for your hands and wrists while typing. Using the wrong wrist wrest, however, may add compression on the finger flexor tendons and on the median nerve that stresses your hands and wrist. If not prevented, it can lead to tendonitis or carpal tunnel syndrome.
5. Seat with a chair that supports your posture.
Trying to sit upright and hunching forward are both not recommended for ergonomic sitting positions. The most relaxed seating posture is practicing lordosis or curving your lower back towards your belly. Lean on your chair comfortably that you can easily reach your keyboard and mouse. If your chair lacks lower-back support, you can use a cushion or any soft materials that can support your lower back.
6. Rest your feet flat on the floor or use foot support.
While sitting, the tendencies when you pull your feet back underneath the chair or hang them up in the air are putting pressure under the thighs, restricting blood flow to the lower legs, and increasing the risk of deep vein thrombosis. To address such, if your feet don’t reach the floor, use a box, footrests, or any alternative foot support.
7. Limit the time of working in your bed.
Working in your bed is worse than working in a non-supportive chair because you use your legs as support of your laptop and may need to hunch over. The auxiliary solution for this problem is putting a pillow or any backrests to lean your back with. Also, getting a low table for your laptop instead of your legs is a good idea. It elevates the screen to a comfortable eye height level and saving your neck from bending down.
8. Alternate typing and mousing with voice input.
For relative tasks, you can use voice input to do the work instead of regularly typing and using the mouse. It allows your hands, fingers, wrists, forearms, and shoulders to rest periodically.
9. Regularize standing and stretching.
A sedentary working position is unequivocally unhealthy and putting your body prone to strains. To avoid such, stand, stretch, and move around every 20 to 30 minutes to prompt good circulation and relaxation of the muscles. However, take note that standing for hours are not convenient. It only requires more energy, thus, putting greater strain on your body, especially on your feet and legs. Additionally, it’s been linked to increasing the risks of varicose veins.
Still, the best choice to relieve pain is utilizing ergonomic tools inside your workspace, however, following these tips can help you revamp your home office into an ergonomic design. With fewer chances of musculoskeletal injury or other severe complications, your health and productivity are maximized.
Source: Time.com