We spend a large part of the day working. For many of us, work means spending a lot of time sitting down, whether it’s in front of a computer, or driving. For others, work can mean being on their feet all day, or lifting heavy weight, or performing repetitive movements. All these scenarios commonly lead to stress on the back and pain or discomfort in the back or neck area. This article offers some tips from our expert medical team to help you take better care of your spine at work.
When back pain occurs while performing daily activities, it is usually when we maintain poor posture for a long time, or if we make repetitious or excessive movements. For this reason, many people end up having job-related back problems, sometimes to the extent that they can’t perform their work, or at least not as well. To keep this from happening to you, we are going to share some guidelines and practices on good posture that can easily be incorporated in your daily life.
How can you prevent back pain caused by sitting at work?
Inactivity can affect the health of the spine. Sitting in front at a desk or behind the wheel of a car all day usually ends up damaging your back, especially if combined with poor posture and inadequate back support. Therefore, the key to preventing back pain from this type of work is to always pay attention to your posture.
It is important to have a comfortable chair, with a backrest that adapts to the curvature of the spine. Also, when sitting, your feet should be able to rest flat on the ground, and your legs should be parallel to the floor. This is the position that will allow you to keep your back straight in correct posture.
It’s important to pay attention to the position of your arms as well. If the chair has armrests, they should be at a height that allows your forearms to rest in a relaxed manner, avoiding tension in the shoulders.
Your desk is important too. You should be able to fit your legs under the desk in order to keep an appropriate distance from the computer screen. The screen should be at eye-level, so you don’t need to tilt or crane your neck.
As we mentioned, doing the same thing for extended periods of time is not good for your back, so remember to stand up from time to time, rest your eyes, and stretch your muscles a little. Spending a few minutes in another position every so often will relieve the stress caused by being in the same posture for too long.
Lastly, even if you haven’t thought about the direct relationship other habits can have on your back, maintaining a healthy diet, watching your weight, and avoiding tobacco, as well as exercising regularly can also help prevent back problems.
Getting enough calcium and vitamin D in your diet will promote the health of your bones, and doing aerobic exercise on a daily basis will strengthen your muscles. Also, did you know that smoking reduces blood flow in the lower spine which can cause damage to the intervertebral discs?
Smoking increases your risk of back pain
How to avoid back pain from standing for a long time or doing repetitive tasks?
When you have to work standing up, you should also think about the posture you use. If your work involves standing in the same place all the time, try to shift your weight from one foot to the other, and if you are on your feet, but constantly moving, try to keep your back and head upright, and don’t hunch your shoulders forward.
For people whose jobs involve a lot of walking, it’s very important to choose the right footwear. In addition to being made of comfortable and breathable material, it is recommended that your shoes have a heel height of between 2 and 5 centimeters (1 to 2 inches), to prevent your body from leaning forward and curving your back.
If your daily work requires you to perform very repetitive tasks, we recommend that, as much as possible, you avoid bending, twisting or stretching with sudden movements, and always try to keep your back as straight as possible and not stretch your neck forward. In these cases, it is also essential to take breaks to relax the muscles and joints every so often, and do some stretching exercise.
For those workers who have to lift or move heavy weights, the best way to do it is to pick the weight up off the ground with knees bent, feet slightly apart, and keeping the back straight. Ideally, the weight should be held close to your body so that you can control your balance and use your trunk to help lift it.
If you are already suffering from some back pain, try doing these exercises at home:
Exercises for relief of back pain
If despite these exercises the pain continues, we recommend that you consult our doctors, because it could be a more serious problem.
Next, we also leave you other articles with more tips on how to care for your back and prevent back pain. We hope you find them useful!
Categories: Spine pathologies, Prevention, Back pain