Back pain at work? Here are 5 things you should do NOW for relief
Sherwin Nicholson | Updated Dec 3, 2020
Are you feeling pain ranging from a stiff neck, sore shoulders, lower back pain, sore hips, sciatica and even knee problems just from your chair?
If you’re at your desk now and need some simple solutions to ease the pain, start here.
I have 5 quick tips and exercises that you can do while on the job (or on your break) to help you feel better.
Do them ASAP (as long as you and your staff don’t mind) and whenever you’re sore. It’s better to do them for preventative measures than after the fact.
When you follow these 5 tips & exercises, you have less discomfort and the better it will be for your health and work.
If you are finding yourself sitting more often because of lockdown in your area, it is vital to take advantage of the ways taught on this site to avoid lower back pain. You’ll find many of the tips offered here quite a relief for your back.
The following 5 tips & exercises will help you in any office type setting
Most of us have lower back problems because our jobs & careers demand us to be at the computer more often than anything other activity. Adding to this, the typical seating provided is substandard at best. Sometimes it is appropriate but is set up so poorly that we aren’t even seated comfortably.
Even in the best conditions, the fact that you need to spend anywhere from 7+ hours a day motionless takes away any improvements you have tried to make for your seating.
I cannot make you change your seating situation and maybe neither can you.
But I can help to provide you with some simple tricks so you can better manage your day by day challenges. In most cases, my suggestions will require NO extra time in your day so it’s a win-win for you.
The dangers of sitting at the desk
Let me be clear, sitting is always unhealthy for your spine. ONLY does it benefit you to sit when you have already become too sore from standing.
Whenever you sit, you immediately have shut down important, muscular, lumbar support.
Your spine and discs are NOT getting support or stability from your back muscles. A process called ‘disengagement’ occurs where the muscles and joints are no longer functioning together to provide stability. Those muscles are ALSO relaxed so it’s a double NO-NO.
Think of it in this way. Try right now to relax every muscle of your neck that is holding up your head.
Eventually it will lean so much that you’ll strain some of the muscles of your neck or a disc inside your cervical vertebrae. It’s pretty easy to see how crazy it would be to do this to your neck but we all do this to our lower back every day for hours.
I don’t mean to berate you but sometimes a good physical analogy will help to stir up some much needed change to our habits.
Let’s get started on the 5 Tips & Exercises (at the Office)
Remember: Do these often at your desk, anytime you sit (outside of work) & teach it to others!
I have broken these 5 actions into the following 5 words to help you remember while at work.
- Perform
- Stand
- Kickstand
- Hug
- Break
Memorize these 5 words to help you manage your discomfort hourly.
Begin Tip & Exercise #1: PERFORM
Get even more help here:
Do I have piriformis syndrome?
What are the dangers of sitting for too long?
Do you like what you’re reading? This site is here to help YOU. Check it out daily for more tips and help. I created this site to help empower you and to help as many people possible feel better every day.
Most of us have forgotten how to take care our backs when faced with so many challenges in life. Even when some issues are beyond our control, there is still something you can do to make your life more comfortable.
But what you can do is to minimize the bad habits and change what you do day by day to have more relief. Give this site a chance and explore all of the different techniques and exercises. You can follow many simple ideas to help you relieve your pain & enjoy your life even more one change at a time. – Sherwin
