Have you noticed you're experiencing more back pain than usual? Perhaps it started around March... Maybe when you started working from home?!
If so, you're not alone...
A lot of us were sent to work from home around March -- Thanks, COVID -- and we never really had time to set up our 'home office' space! And man oh man, that's not good news for our posture.
Below are a few tips and tricks to make sure your work-from-home set up is supporting a proper posture that won't lead to that awful lingering back pain.
1. GET THAT PROPER POSTURE:
- Make sure your ears are over your shoulder, not in front
- Keep your elbows by your sides, and your wrists resting on a soft surface. (Hand towels help with this!)
- Don't forget to support your back! Get a supportive chair, or use a small lumbar pillow or towel roll
- Make sure you keep your feet flat on the floor
- For even more support, try using a footrest (or a stack of books)
2. FIX YOUR SCREEN POSITION:
- Adjust your seat height! If you're using a desktop, make sure your eyes are lined up 3 inches below the top of your screen. If you're working on a laptop, tilt the screen back to 120 degrees
- (Your computer screen should be no more than an arm’s length away at all times)
- Keep that keyboard directly in front of you, and keep the mouse to the side of your keyboard. You can always move your mouse back if it gets away from you...
- Laptop users: You might also want to consider a freestanding keyboard! These keyboards are great for your posture because they let you raise your screen to a specific height without having to move your arms up to type
3. AND DON'T FORGET TO MOVE OFTEN:
One of the worst things you can do while working is to stay stationary for too long! To make sure you don't -- try getting up every 45-50 minutes to keep your body loose.
Here's a few exercises you can do to keep your body moving while you're working:
- Big shoulder circles
- Rolls from neck to shoulder
- BREATHE! (Large breaths)
- Squats in front of your desk chair