Santa doesn’t just hang
out at his desk for work! He is out in
the world, in and out of a sleigh, getting
the help of others (elves and reindeer!) to do part
of the hard, back-wrecking work. However, he also works from his
home/workshop which certainly creates stress and pain for him
like it does for the
rest of us who now realize the dream of working from
home. However, we can learn from his example. He doesn’t just sit
at a desk. He gets help for challenging chores. He moves!
Executive Chiropractic of Iowa urges all of our West Des Moines
work-from-home friends to do the same as well as get
alleviating chiropractic care
for the back pain, neck pain, shoulder, and other pain(s) you may now have.
THE DREAM: WORK FROM HOME, LEARN AT HOME
Working from home. It was the dream job for many
of us…until the dream came true. There are some stunning
statistics on how work-from-home has changed so many
of us. One study of 232 telecom employees recorded that
39% had more pain in the low back, 48% in the upper back/neck, and 27% in their
hands. Only 33% reported not having any such
musculoskeletal pain problems. (Women related that they had more issues than men.) 30% worked in a separate room
at home, 32% worked in a separate section of a room with
other people of the home, 38% worked in a non-separate area like
the dining room. 41% did not sit in an office
chair; 32% had an ergonomic chair. 71% were distracted
by constant or occasional disruptions.
52% put in more work hours a day. Only 30% took frequent
breaks. (1) Students experienced much the same as the workers
did when their learning and teaching was done
at home: low back pain for 73%, neck pain for 69%, shoulder pain for 59%. Contributing
factors for students were pain, academic stresses, personal/emotional issues,
work environment, and time with the computer. (2) For the
work-from-home dream to come true with as little pain as possible
requires some preparation. Your West Des Moines chiropractor is
ready to help you prepare.
WORKING FROM HOME: THE SET UP
Any new venture necessitates a plan. Beginning
without the plan goes wrong for most. 89% of
new-to-working-at-home workers who replied
to a survey reported some musculoskeletal pain.
Upper back pain was described as being a result of
nonergonomic work environments with non-favorable computer
configurations while nonergonomic postures were related
to headache and low back pain. (3) A study of university
employees found that 61% of them experienced
more musculoskeletal pain working from home with neck, shoulder and low back
pain being the most often experienced. Women reported
significantly more pain than men. The height of the seat an the distance of
the monitor were significant risk factors
for discomfort and pain in work-from-home employees. (4)
HOPE FOR NEW WORK-FROM-HOME PAIN
There is hope! Despite the new
work-from-home trend that prompted more sedentary
lifestyles, decreased physical activity, and greater
musculoskeletal pain like back pain, researchers remarked
that exercise and less sitting around successfully decreased
low back pain and even ‘cured’ it for participants in their study. (5)
Executive Chiropractic of Iowa presents some simple, gentle exercises for our
West Des Moines chiropractic patients. Begin them after we do a thorough exam and you begin noticing
relief with our gentle chiropractic spinal manipulation care.
CONTACT Executive Chiropractic of Iowa
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. John Murray on The
Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he describes
relieving chiropractic care for back and neck pain patients with The Cox®
Technic System of Spinal Pain Management on The Cox®8 Table.
Schedule your West Des Moines chiropractic
appointment now. Be like Santa: move, get help with
the heavy lifting, adapt your workspace! Happy Holidays!