Postural hygiene. Take care of your posture when working at home
Are you one of those who have had to implement a space at home to perform work activities? You run the risk of suffering back, elbow, wrist and leg pain caused by poor posture or poor design of the place to work.
The public health crisis unleashed by COVID-19 took the world by surprise. Not surprisingly, few people have a specific workspace or ergonomically designed furniture to spend eight hours working.
In this Shopping Compass we will highlight the importance of postural hygiene in the world of telecommuting, the consequences of bad postural habits and the medical specialty in charge of helping you to correct or heal the discomfort caused during this new normality, which some experts say is here to stay.
Working remotely, today’s reality
Telecommuting or teleworking is defined as “the development of a paid activity, for which information and telecommunications technologies are used as a basic work tool, and in which there is no permanent presence either in the physical workplace of the company that offers the goods or services or in the company that demands such goods and services.
According to the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare (STPS), teleworking is used to develop essential tasks that cannot be developed in the usual physical center. It is a special modality currently implemented as a measure against the coronavirus epidemic.
However, it must be carried out and planned by workers and employers taking into account the tasks that can be performed at home and the personnel with the capacity to perform them, or the arrangements that must be made in the homes to make it feasible for the work to be successful.
Among other aspects, the STPS recommends establishing work spaces and habits, as well as defining a suitable place to work at home, which should include:
- A space or room where it is easy to concentrate, preferably away from living areas and away from the television.
- Adequate furniture, telephone and necessary technology.
- A level of security similar to that required in the office.
- An internet connection.
- Control over temperature, light and sound.
According to The Competititve Intelligence Unit (The CIU), a consulting firm specializing in telecommunications and broadcasting markets, companies that are teleworking have benefits in their operation. For example, by eliminating the time spent commuting to the workplace, they generate significant gains in productivity.
According to research by The CIU, 20.4% of a total of 4 million 750 thousand economic units of the private and parastatal sector in the country have used connectivity in their productive processes, being the small (11-50 employees), medium (51-250 employees) and large (251 and more employees) the most intensive with a proportion of over 80% of the total boost productivity, based on the increasingly intensive use of the Internet.
Microenterprises (0-10 employees) are the ones that could face more difficulties to continue with their operations due to the impossibility of connecting with their clients during the isolation caused by the coronavirus, since only 17.1% of them have an Internet connection.
It is here to stay
For some industry experts, the so-called “new normal” has brought a restructuring of work environments and possibly new forms of telecommuting that will remain even after non-core activities are resumed.
On the other hand, results of the survey New Normality, new ways of working applied by the same company in July 2020, before the application of the social distancing measures due to COVID-19, 46% of those surveyed did not practice remote work. However, the pandemic forced companies to implement it unexpectedly, as it was the only way to continue to perform office work.
Although the conditions were not ideal, the benefits, apparently, have been latent, as 97% of respondents want remote work to be maintained on a permanent basis.
Ergonomics and telecommuting
Now that you are adapting to the “new normal” and many companies are considering keeping it on a permanent basis, how is the readjustment of your home space going? How are you doing with back pain?
There are several aspects such as bad postural habits, muscular imbalances, back pain, among others that affect people’s daily lives and that can be avoided and alleviated through correct postural hygiene and ergonomics.
Postural hygiene is a set of recommendations and attitudes aimed at maintaining an alignment of the whole body in order to avoid possible injuries. Its main objective is to learn a series of rules and habits to help protect the back when carrying out daily activities.
There are different products on the market that have the legend “ergonomically designed, which means that it has been designed considering the relationship between the human being and its environment to reduce fatigue and injuries caused by daily activities.
That is why to maintain a proper or ergonomic posture in front of the computer or laptop you must have the space, furniture and computer equipment suitable or the best possible adapted to avoid muscle problems, back pain, tendinitis or back pain, as shown in the following image:
But what is a suitable place to work? One that, as far as possible, is spacious, with adequate lighting, properly ventilated and free of noise, away from places where television and music equipment is used, or from the kitchen where it is common to use microwaves, blenders, mixers, etc.
According to the document Preventive guidance during remote work, work tables or desks should be of the necessary size to have at hand what you need. Arrange your workspace so that you achieve a comfortable posture. Underneath, clear any unnecessary obstacles or objects so you can rest your legs comfortably.
If you use a laptop or laptop try to raise it to your eye level and at a distance of about 40-50 cm from your eyes, the idea is that the neck does not suffer, you can use it as a screen, connecting a separate keyboard.
Leave a space between the edge of the table and the keyboard of about 10 cm to be able to support forearms and hands, maintaining the neutral posture in the wrist with respect to the forearm, without deviations. The mouse should be in the same plane, its size should adapt to the hand and be comfortable to use.
Use a chair that allows you to support your body completely. Keep your back straight and supported by the backrest. If necessary, use a cushion. Sit at a height above the seat so that, with your arms close to your body, your elbow is at the height of the table, forming a 90º or 100º angle between arms and forearms and fully support your legs on the seat and your feet on the floor, forming a 90º or 100º angle at the knee joint.
If you are one of those who work with a laptop on an armchair or sofa, remember that, as a rule, the postures adopted are inadequate for both upper and lower limbs. Adopt an ergonomic posture, using elevators to support the computer, back cushions and footrests, if possible, reduce exposure times to a minimum.
When using the cell phone, avoid adopting forced postures while working on the screen. If you have to answer the call, use the “hands-free”, but do not hold the phone between your shoulder and face. If you can take the call without the computer, take a short break, get up and take a few steps.
Rest is essential, so take short breaks from screen work and stretch. Do not wait until you feel the discomfort, it is recommended that you establish breaks approximately every hour or hour and a half of work. You can perform short stretching exercises
The value of ergonomic, chair prices
To avoid the risk of injury, it is advisable not to exceed two hours of work in a seated position. This is something that most of the time is difficult to achieve, which is why a comfortable chair will undoubtedly be of great help to avoid body aches, mainly in the back.
If the economy is not for expenses, just follow the recommendations we pointed out above to adapt your work space as friendly as possible to your body needs.
In case you are about to present musculoskeletal disorders, i.e. recurrent pain in some parts of the body such as back, elbows, shoulders, waist, etc., it is necessary to see a specialist. It is necessary to see a specialist.
Physiotherapists, after knowing your habits and discomfort, will be able to determine the necessary treatment to perform your activities and relieve the pain. They will first work on reducing pain and swelling and then, through an exercise program that you can do at home, they will work to increase flexibility, strength and endurance.
The specialist’s goal is to make you have a correct postural hygiene at the time of developing your daily activities (work and home).
Recommendations for working at home
According to the article published by Forbes, “Tips from an expert to work from home without back pain”, reveals seven tips to avoid back pain. Here are some of them:
- Dedicate at least five hours a week to exercise or physical activity, maintaining this habit over time.
- Change your posture periodically, get up every 50-60 minutes and walk, even if it is only to go to the bathroom and back. Irrigation to the muscles and spine improves with movement. Even if furniture allows you to adopt proper posture, it does not eliminate the need to move.
- When sitting, make sure the shape of the chair allows your lower back to be well supported, try using a cushion or lumbar support so that there is no space between your lower back and the backrest. You should notice that you can keep your back relatively straight (as when standing), leaning on the chair and without having to exert muscular effort.
- Adjust the height of the chair so that your feet can be fully supported (on the floor or on a footrest), and your knees are approximately at right angles.
- When using the computer, have the screen in front of your eyes, not to the left or right; and at the same height, not higher or lower; and avoid two common mistakes: raising your shoulders when typing and projecting your neck forward.
- If you have to read long documents on paper, use a lectern or set one up with some household object.
Ten tips for working at home, where it recommends, among other actions, the following:
- Do not work in pajamas: Working at home favors flexibility in clothing, but it is recommended to wear comfortable clothes. Being dressed helps intellectual alertness and productivity.
- Follow up daily with the work team: Take at least 15 minutes to maintain cohesion, follow up on team activities and clarify issues.
- Take a break. It is important to take time to get up from your chair and have some refreshments. This time should not be used for other non-work related activities.
- Do not eat or drink liquids near the desktop or laptop computer, as accidents may occur and damage your work equipment.
- Stretch your legs and exercise: Unlike working in the office, where people have greater mobility to move from one place to another within the same office, working at home has the limitation of reducing mobility. So stay in shape to avoid accumulating weight and also avoid the feeling of being trapped between four walls.
Although the SARS CoV-2 or COVID-19 pandemic took many people by surprise, it is also true that human beings can adapt, take advantage of situations like this, and weigh the advantages and disadvantages of working at home according to our particular situation.