Working From Home or Working In Pain? Tools for a posture-perfect pain-free home office setup.

Remember the day you were told you could work from home?

Perhaps it was a moment of secret elation (‘No more uncomfortable suits!’, ‘I’m putting my heels into retirement!’, ‘New alarm: 8:55am!’).

Maybe the thought of home-schooling, cooking three meals per day plus snacks, and meeting your professional KPIs made you feel faint.

Or perhaps you had no idea how you were going to stay motivated while working in such close proximity to the pantry.

Whatever your reaction, it was probably shared by millions of other Aussies.

Up to 88% of organisations have encouraged their staff to work remotely to stop the spread of Covid-19, and without a clear ‘end’ to the pandemic, Work From Home is fast becoming the new normal.

After three months, it’s time for a chiropractic check in. Dear WFH-er, how’s your body holding up?

Ergonomic Appreciation

You never truly appreciate something until it’s gone.

This is certainly the case for an ergonomic office setup; the ugly-yet-supportive chair your boss had fitted to your exact dimensions; the raised monitor and wireless keyboard to keep your elbows at 90 degrees; the workplace posters reminding you to get up, stretch, shake it out every 30 minutes.

All this attention to ergonomics can feel like overkill. But once you’re Working From Kitchen Bench like one in four people (or worse, Working From Floor), the effects of poor posture and infrequent breaks quickly become apparent.

People are flocking to manual therapists for help with new niggles and complaints like a crook neck, tender lower back, sore wrists and headaches. And while these home-office impairments are annoying now, you don’t want them to become big-time-debilitating in the future.

What’s at stake?

The long term effects of poor posture are pretty surprising.

We’re not just talking about a temporarily sore back. A hunched, twisted or imbalanced position day-in, day-out can lead to chronic, whole-body problems down the line, such as:

Chronic headaches
Neck and shoulder dysfunction
Arthritis
Carpal Tunnel syndrome
Impaired digestion
Shallow breathing
Lowered energy
Poor circulation
Nerve problems
Altered mood

These significant issues stem from surprisingly small imbalances.

A craning neck can pull your shoulders forward and change the way you breathe, activating stress hormones, taxing your nervous system and flattening your energy levels. Crossing your legs can cut off blood supply and contribute to spider veins. One tight calf muscle can throw your whole spine off kilter. Your postural habits add up over time.

Prevent issues before they happen

Today we urge you, WFH-er, to check-in with your body and home office setup.

Take the time to workshop and ergonomic-ify your desk and computer.

Commit to protecting your spine and health by getting posture-aware, ergonomics-savvy and movement-wise.

There are so many excellent tools and resources out there to help you dial in your home office, that we thought we’d supply you with a list – see below.

(And of course, partnering with a holistically-minded, prevention-first practitioner (like a chiro!) is a truly supportive adjunct to your WFH strategy, too. Feel free to get in touch if you have any questions at all.)