Back pain is the number one symptom seen in working population in our comprehensive corporate office ergonomic clientele where we are supporting ergonomics for WFH as well as for onsite ergonomic/wellbeing services.
Anu (name changed), someone we have done in person work station evaluation 3 years ago, was doing great with all workstation changes, work habit modification and personalised stretching/exercise program. Since WFH started, her employer has been very proactive with employee health and offering valuable ergonomic assistance for health and safety for WFH. However, in spite of all help available, she somehow thought she will be fine and did not reach out. Now a year later, mild ache is becoming more constant, she realised she can no longer put off her own needs of taking care of herself and seek remote ergonomic/wellbeing assistance available to her.
The combination of demanding targets with long working hours with the vigorous demands of household chores takes a toll on woman's health. Women generally have a habit of ignoring their own health or their health issues. So, when a symptom like back pain is ignored for a long time then it is converted to chronic back pain.
According to many prospective studies on Musculoskeletal health, issues like headaches, eye strain, back, neck pain are expected to escalate even furthur.
Musculoskeletal conditions are typically created by poor ergonomics, which is a science of how people interact with their environment, science of designing, arranging work space, training individuals about their health and safety.
So working on bed, sofa, arm chairs, dining tables etc., puts incredible strain on spine, joints, blood supply. This results in mild nagging pain which soon can become chronic pain.
This is especially more pronounced in women while WFH. Physical and emotional strains go hand in hand, hard to know which comes first, but they do go in tandem.
Some studies mention that worldwide 126 million people experience back, neck, shoulder etc. symptoms, many of whom defer care.
Our comprehensive corporate ergonomic programs are designed to be proactive, treat and prevent future injuries. Education about right ergonomics is the key to get younger and older workforce to practise and comply to proper work set up, right posture, microbreaks and strategies to reduce muscular fatigue right away.
Here are some simple yet most effective strategies for WFH:
Have a designated place to work
Use chair preferably instead of any other work surface ( if chair does not fit and support properly to key areas of your sitting posture: opt for additional Lumbar Support/back rest ).
Most desks are on the taller side and one has to sit at highest height to use keyboard. If in such cases feet dangles, one can opt for foot rest
One must use external keyboard and mouse while using laptop. Bending over posture is the single biggest ergonomic risk for developing symptoms. Get your screen to eye level either with laptop stand or with external monitor/screen.
Prolong sitting hours leads to disturbances in supply of blood and effective nutrients to support muscular effort to sustain our postures. This in turn leads to symptoms of fatigue. Hence every 30 min, microbreaks/flex and stretch program can go a long way to reduce chances of pain and injuries.
Please check out Library to learn more about WFH set up, microbreaks etc.
Women need to give priority to their health so they don't miss out on joys of various roles that they need to perform as a wife, mother, sister, friend, employee, leader and a multifaceted productive person of society.
Don't let preventable back pain stop you from enjoying pleasures of life!
Act today:
Take our Survey/self audit to objectively know how is your current working condition and work space!
Check out our special offer on ergonomic products to set up WFH and prevent back pain. Use “July 2021” coupon code to get special discount!