Santa does not just hang
out at his desk for work! He is out in
the world, in and out of a sleigh, enlisting
the assistance of others (elves and reindeer!) to do some
of the hard, back-wrecking work. However, he also works from his
home/workshop which surely brings him similar stresses and pain 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 heavy chores. He moves!
Johnson Chiropractic urges all of our Richmond
work-from-home friends to do the same as well as received
pain-decreasing chiropractic treatment
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: 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 documented that
39% had more pain in the low back, 48% in the upper back/neck, and 27% in their
hands. Only 33% said they did not have any such
musculoskeletal pain problems. (Women reported 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 use an office
chair; 32% had an ergonomic chair. 71% were bothered
by constant or intermittent disruptions.
52% worked longer hours. 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%. Influencing
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 Richmond chiropractor is
ready to help you prep.
WORKING FROM HOME: THE SET UP
Any new venture necessitates a plan. Beginning
without the plan goes wrong for many. 89% of
new-to-working-at-home workers who responded
to a survey described some musculoskeletal pain.
Upper back pain was described as being a result of
nonergonomic work environments with suboptimal computer
configurations while nonergonomic postures were linked to headache and low back pain. (3) A study of university
employees documented that 61% of them had
more musculoskeletal pain working from home with neck, shoulder and low back
pain being the most frequent. Women stated
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! Regardless of the new
work-from-home trend that prompted more sedentary
lifestyles, decreased physical activity, and greater
musculoskeletal pain like back pain, researchers noted
that exercise and less sitting around successfully reduced
low back pain and even ‘cured’ it for participants in their study. (5)
Johnson Chiropractic offers some simple, gentle exercises for our
Richmond chiropractic patients. Start them after we perform a thorough exam and you begin experiencing
relief with our gentle chiropractic spinal manipulation care.
CONTACT Johnson Chiropractic
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.
Make your Richmond chiropractic
appointment soon. Be like Santa: move, delegate
the heavy lifting, modify your workspace! Happy Holidays!