In our years of running a chiropractic clinic for low back pain near San Diego, we see how backaches make people suffer. Nowadays, it isn’t just manual labor jobs causing strain and stress on the back. Many cases of back pain occur in people working desk jobs that require sitting all day long.
Sure, sitting may seem no sweat, but it is laborious for your back, especially if you have poor posture or your office workstation is not ergonomically set up. If you think your office job is causing your back pain, here are some helpful tips to relieve your pain. Read until the end as we will reveal a natural therapy that can provide a long-term solution for your problem.
Ways to Minimize Your Back Pain in the Office
You can prevent chronic back pain and other health problems related to desk work by practicing better work ergonomics. Ergonomics pertain to designing and arranging your stuff so that you can work more efficiently and safely. This involves modifying not only your work desk and computer equipment to your body but also your overall working habits.
Follow these tips to maintain good posture and take care of your spine.
Avoid Sitting for Long Periods of Time
Many studies have observed office worker behaviors and found a link between sitting at a desk and chronic back pain. If possible get up frequently and stretch between tasks. If you don’t have that space, you can stand up from your desk and walk every hour or so to go to the bathroom, pantry, or anywhere around the office floor. These little breaks will help you avoid back stiffness.
Use Correct Sitting Posture
First and foremost, set up your office chair properly. Choose an adjustable chair, so you can lower or raise it and be able to rest your feet flat on the floor. Second, if you are short and the chair is too tall, you should have a footrest. Third, your chair should also have full lumbar support. Lastly, your hips should be at knee level or slightly higher. You shouldn’t need to lean forward or hunch over.
Place Monitors at Eye Level
The typical office set up places the monitors directly on the desk. This is a mistake as the desk height is not the correct height for a monitor; it is only designed for ideal typing height to prevent carpal tunnel syndrome. Always keep your monitors at eye level. Doing otherwise would force the head to tilt slightly forward the whole day. This can result in hunched shoulders and poor overall health. Use a monitor stand to elevate your monitors or stack some books under them until they are at the correct height.
Stop Bad Phone Habits
Misuse of a phone can contribute to back pain. The number one mistake people do at the office is holding their phones between the shoulder and ear. This is bad for the neck and the whole spine. Some ways to avoid this are by using a speakerphone, earbuds, or a Bluetooth headset. You can still use your hands while talking on the phone, without hurting your neck.
Another bad habit people do is looking down at their smartphones or devices. The amount of pressure on the spine increases five times when you look down at your phone at a 60-degree. This further increases as you repeat the habit all day.
These are just some recommendations to prevent the onset of back pain, but what if you already suffer from it? While these tips may help reduce pain, the best solution for chronic back pain is addressing the underlying problem correctly.
Upper Cervical Chiropractic – The Solution for Chronic Back Pain
Before you think nothing else can help your back pain, we would like to introduce you to upper cervical chiropractic, a chiropractic subspecialty. What makes it unique? This is a very gentle, precise, and specialized form of chiropractic care.
Focus
This form of therapy takes a closer look at the top bone in the neck, the atlas. The atlas balances the head, and the rest of the spine will shift and compensate if this vertebra is not properly aligned. Changes and pain in your back can occur if the atlas is out of alignment by just fractions of a millimeter. Over time, the changes reach the lower back. They can be worse enough to have an impact on the SI joint or sciatic nerve. These are some of the culprits for intense lower back pain.
Gentle
Upper cervical chiropractic does not involve any rapid twisting or cracking of the back and neck. Every adjustment only uses low force, which is less shocking on the body. This means the body will cooperate, and not work against the adjustment. The body will have more time to stabilize and heal, making adjustments longer-lasting. They can hold for weeks or months.
Precision
Upper cervical chiropractors are trained to discover a misalignment in the atlas. It requires precision to get the exact location and fraction of misalignment. They do it through the help of diagnostic imaging and x-rays. They will use measurements taken from this equipment to come up with a customized adjustment and care plan for patients.
If you are looking for a chiropractic clinic for low back pain near San Diego, Family First Chiropractic & Wellness Center in San Diego, California is here to help. We employ a cost-effective and safe way to relieve chronic back pain. Our patients have plenty of good things to say about our practice. Contact us and set a consultation today to start your healing process.
