04 Oct Are you working from home? desk related injuries on the increase!
Over the last 20 months physiotherapists have been dealing with the effects of the home office working life.
At the beginning of the first lockdown, we noticed that there was an increase in “desk related injuries”, which were mostly due to poor desk set up and many people not having access to the correct chair and desk and making do with working on a laptop on the dining room table.
As working from home and flexible working is now becoming the normal working pattern for many people there has been more investment into chairs and desk set ups, which has been great so there must be fewer “desk related injuries” for physiotherapists to deal with….right?
Unfortunately, this has not been the case. As physiotherapists, we are noticing the same number of issues, but for different reasons. We just aren’t moving enough.
Many people are finding that they are on back-to-back video calls and glued to their computer screens. There is no commute, so office hours are getting longer and the lines between home and work life often become blurred.
We no longer get up and walk to the next meeting room or to the canteen to get a coffee or lunch. We walk a few meters to our bathrooms or maybe down the stairs to get a quick coffee before we get back to our beautifully set up ergonomic desks for our next marathon sitting session.
Human bodies aren’t designed to sit for these prolonged periods of time, they are designed to move. When we sit for long periods of time there are muscle groups that tend to get very tight and others that become weak, which can lead to an imbalance and movement dysfunction and sometimes pain.
The best solution is to set yourself a reminder to get up and move every hour, even if it is just standing and walking on the spot or spending a few minutes moving while you wait for the kettle to boil!
For most people, the simple solution of moving a bit more will work wonderfully, but, if you are finding this difficult or experiencing problems, we can advise on exercises that are specific to your needs to help prevent issues from arising.
Do give us a call
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