Your work from home (WFH) is KILLING your back and neck! Here is what you should do about it

If you are reading this hunched in front of your laptop to the extent you are not realising it, here is a gentle reminder to straighten your posture. Owing to the COVID-19 outbreak, a lot of people had to make an abrupt shift from the corporate setting to working from their bedrooms. While some are lucky enough to have an ergonomic work from home space, others try and make use of the less-than-ideal set up consisting of beds, coffee tables, couches and dining tables.

Even though the initial news of this transition may have sounded godsent at first, it is certainly proving to be a literal pain in the neck and the back as we stay slouched over our laptops for an extended period of time. While the situation may have been bearable if we were planning to go back to an ideal workplace set up in a few weeks, the sad part is there is no clarity when the situation might go back to normal. Hence, this less-than-ideal situation may prove to wreak more havoc on workers with pre-existing neck and back problems.

The problem is when you sit on a sofa, a couch or even your bed, you don’t maintain a correct posture. You end up rounding your shoulders, putting your head forward and slouching. As a result, you put too much strain on the tissues of your body which may result in chronic pain in your neck and back. While at first you may get slightly annoyed with the mild body ache, it could soon manifest into a severe problem for your whole body.

For starters, it is important to understand that there is no ‘right’ posture that one should maintain all day long. Yes, even when you are sitting upright, it could lead to stiffness and back pain, if the posture is not changed for several hours. If you are doing computer-intensive work, it is important to make the following adjustments in your daily routine right away.

Slouching puts a tremendous amount of stress on your spine and neck. It may even result in chronic pain if left unchecked for a longer duration of time. You can use a pillow or even roll up a towel horizontally to preserve the hollow arch in the lower back. This will provide lumbar support and prevent pain.

Do not remain seated at one position for extended hours. Yes, in order to avoid pain in your neck, shoulders and back, keep switching between different chairs and sitting surfaces. You can choose from a standing desk, kitchen table, coffee table to even your dining table. When you keep shifting your sitting position, it will not put a lot of pressure on one particular area and the strain will be migrated to different tissues.

To make your sitting comfortable, you can add a hard pillow underneath your seat. You can also drape a fluffy and soft towel around the back of your chair to add more comfort to your ordinary chair. While it cannot completely replace an ideal office chair, it will certainly make working from home more convenient and comfortable.

Just as you get up from your seats at work, for toilet and coffee breaks, it is important to look away from your laptop screens and not stay seated for an extended period of time at home as well. You can take a walk around the house, fill up your water bottle or do some quick stretches at your desk. Take a break of 5 minutes every 40 minutes to keep your body healthy and in good shape.

This simply means that even without your work table and office chair, one needs to make certain minor changes to prevent work from home from becoming a pain in your butt (literally.) For starters, the screen of your laptop should be just below your eye level, so you should elevate the height of the screen to avoid the strain your neck. You can prop up the laptop with books to reach the optimum height. Secondly, you may also try to increase the font size to avoid putting a strain on your eyes and even put a blue light filter on the screen.