Is Working From Home Impacting Your Body? Consider These 5 Tips For Maintaining A Healthy Body Foundation At Home

By Dr. Aki, Cornerstone Community Chiropractic

October 8, 2020 – The COVID-19 pandemic has more people working from home—twice as many as before, in fact—and workers are feeling its effects. In addition to the distraction of family, children, and pets, home offices are typically not set up with ergonomics in mind. People are working on kitchen tables, front porches and even in bed. All of this has led to new and unfamiliar aches and pains, many of which can be prevented. Here at Cornerstone Community Chiropractic in Ewa Beach and Kapolei, we’ve seen a rise in issues related to work-from-home conditions.

Although lying in your bed with your laptop on your lap seems comfy, you’ll probably start feeling the effects later on. Along with foundational corrections for pain relief, here are some tips for working from home that can make a big difference:

Tips for Working From Home

1. Use a desktop computer, rather than a laptop, whenever possible. Keeping your spine aligned while using a laptop is especially challenging, since you are often not seated at a desk. In addition, since your monitor and keyboard are connected on laptops, you have no choice but to hunch forward. To help keep your spine aligned, use a desktop computer whenever possible.
2. Set up the lower 1/3 of your computer monitor at eye level. Sitting hunched over a computer all day puts pressure against the natural curvature of the spine. Setting up your monitor at eye level naturally pulls your hunched over spine to an upright position, taking stress off your neck and lower back. The addition of a computer stand will raise your screen to your eye level. You can also get creative and stack a few books.
3. Create a standing desk. Unless you are doing fine work, try easing into standing while working. Standing promotes a healthier body foundation and releases the pressure on your neck and back. Other suggestions include casting your laptop to your TV and switching off between sitting and standing throughout your workday.
4. Use an adjustable desk. This is especially important for workers sharing the same workspace. Your bodies aren’t identical, so your workspace needs to adjust to your body. Make sure that your elbow is right next to your body at 90 degrees with a relaxed shoulder and keep your mouse and keyboard close to your body.
5. A tip for the keiki schooling from home! While playing on tablets or phones, have them lay on their tummies, similar to paddling on a surfboard. Children’s bodies continue to develop into their early twenties and forward curvature is crucial to ensuring proper Foundation.

Working from home can have enormous benefits—but not if it’s taking a toll on your body. Some of the issues you’re experiencing may be your work set-up. At Cornerstone Community Chiropractic in Ewa Beach and Kapolei, we focus on Foundational Correction. Imagine your body as your house, and your spine and nervous system as its Foundation. What happens if your Foundation shifts? These problems will continue to return until you address the cause – the Foundation.