Working from home has become a staple of many people’s professional lives over the last year. For some employees, it’s because their companies were forced to adhere to pandemic restrictions, while others have shifted to freelance work and started their work-from-home journey after being laid off. Whatever the reasons may be, these people welcomed the transition, but it’s not always a smooth one. Many are faced with challenges when working from home, and these often affect productivity.
Low Back Pain
If you’ve been sitting and working for at least eight hours a day, you may notice physical discomfort in your lower back. Prolonged sitting can cause the spinal bones to compress the nerves and cause the muscles to become inflamed. This can be exacerbated when working from home if you don’t have a proper office chair.Muscle stiffness can be best addressed with a deep massage to the area to help lessen the contraction of the muscles.
Neck Pain
Individuals working from home can also suffer from neck pain. This often happens as a result of inappropriate table height in comparison to your chair, causing your neck muscles to exert extra effort to allow you to see what you are working on your screen or your table. The pain would often start from the shoulders, eventually affecting your neck.
Urinary Tract Infection
A urinary tract infection or UTI can occur when you forget to adequately hydrate your body or when you try to hold your urine when you are too invested in your work. When this happens too often, it will cause your kidney to retain toxic chemicals in your body. In some cases, individuals who also have a high-salt diet can also suffer from UTI.
Migraine
When you’re constantly exposed to the light from your PC or laptop monitor, migraines can quickly become an issue. At first, you’ll have eye strain until it will gradually progress to a full-blown migraine. It doesn’t help if you’re constantly feeling stressed out at work.
Choose ergonomic office furniture
If you’re going to be working from home permanently, you should consider investing in suitable office furniture. Ergonomic chairs and tables ensure that your body is properly aligned so you can reduce stiffness and inflammation on your muscles.
Do stretching
Before you start working, try to have at least 15 minutes of stretching. Make it part of your daily ritual. Repeat it at least every two hours while you are working. This will help your muscles to become more mobile and flexible, lessening the instance of inflammation and stiffness.
Go for a massage
If you’ve been working hard day in, day out. It‘s perfectly acceptable to reward yourself with a massage. Look for experts like the RMT Burnaby professionals who have experience in working with physical conditions and provide education on how to prevent serious injuries.
Take breaks
If it’s difficult for you to keep track of your working hours, set an alarm for when you need to take a break. Try walking around your home or rest your back for at least 15 minutes.
Hydrate
It is also critical to keep hydrating yourself while you are working. Try to consult your doctor about how much water you should be consuming per day to prevent UTI and eventual kidney problems later on.
Follow these tips and you’ll be well on your way to maximizing your working from home opportunity.
