When the COVID-19 crisis hit the world, it pretty much disrupted the regular operations of most companies across the globe. From big corporates to budding startups - everyone had to adapt to the “new normal”.
As a safety measure, the employees were allowed to work remotely from the comfort of their homes for the sake of maintaining a physical distance. Despite the comfort, these employees missed out on the office-friendly advanced seating arrangements, that are designed for long-hour desk jobs. This gave rise to a few health problems, out of which two most common being neck & back pains.
To curb such “side effects”, experts have shared a list of super-easy alternatives for anyone who’s working from home, since investing in the proper albeit expensive office equipment did not seem feasible.
Here are 5 ways one can take care of neck and shoulder pain:
1. Don't stay in the same position longer than 45 minutes.
2. Walk into your room or apartment every 1 or 1.5 hours.
3. Take a 15- to 30-minute break to exercise, any time during the day. You can perform jumping jacks, pushups, or situps to improve circulation. Do exercises that help strengthen your core and support your lower back & spine.
4. Changing your posture for 30-second "microbreaks" by getting up or arching your back a few times while sitting may help alleviate strain.
5. Working for a few hours each day in a standing position is also a proven solution to curb plausible spine problems.
Tech Neck
Tech neck, also known as cervical kyphosis, is a condition caused due to hunchback slouching that most remote workers are experiencing today - owing to the continuous usage of electronic gadgets. It happens when someone tilts their neck forward, beyond a certain angle, to look at their smartphone or other electronic gadgets, which has reportedly been causing issues in the neck region.
This is how it happens:
Your spine is put under some amount of stress.
Neck and shoulder muscles get stiff and tensed because of this.
Any upper-back discomfort can be one of the symptoms of this condition. Make sure your WFH setup is as accurate for you as possible, especially if you're experiencing issues with a tight "tech neck”. There are, however, certain exercises that can be done to provide relief to those aching muscles.
Releasing myofascial tension
This is best done with the help of a yoga block, but one can also use a stack of small books.
Place the block under your neck as you lay back. The block's edge should be exactly where your neck and head intersect.
Slowly & gently move your head from side to side. The block will assist in massaging the tension out of the muscle when doing the myofascial release.
There should be a moment throughout the twisting of your head when it truly sticks: stop and let the block rest there.
After a hard day’s work, this will surely feel like bliss.
Speaking of bliss, try one of our massage therapies to experience one!
Stretch It Out
After Myofascial release, it's time to stretch out your now-loosened muscles - with some easy-to-do techniques:
the simplest and most effective one for the lower back: lay down on the ground and pull the knees into the chest. You may gently sway from side to side or remain motionless and let the earth massage your lower back.
For tightness in the shoulders, a simple forward fold in a standing position is very beneficial for relaxing the neck & shoulders; focus on relaxing your shoulders from your ears.
Massage Therapy
Massage therapies are natural mood enhancers. It’s always best to take an hour-long session to relieve lockdown stress or tech-neck problems. You'll need something more intense if you're feeling really tense.
Here are our Top 3 Recommendations:
Deep-tissue Massage:
A high-touch, deep-tissue massage with acupressure to stimulate the lymphatic and circulatory systems, inspired by sports. It increases the range of motion and decreases recovery time, which is ideal if you, like me, can hardly move your neck at the moment.
Hot Stone Massage:
Hot Stone Massage therapy involves warming smooth stones and then placing them on different parts of the body. The massage therapist can place these stones on specific “stress” points on your body and keep them like so while giving you a massage.
Back & Shoulder Massage:
This soothing massage does exactly what it says on the tin. It gets into those muscles that have been affected the most.
Double bonus: if your therapist uses hot stones to melt away any extra stress.
If you have any queries, feel free to reach out to us asap!
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