By Isabell Macrina
Hometown Weekly Staff
In today’s era of most businesses opting for a hybrid work week, people have taken to creating their own work-from-home setups, even without an office. Julianne Beck, PT, DPT, OCS is a physical therapist who specializes in orthopedic and pelvic health for women, but she brought her tips and tricks for reducing neck and lower back pain from long hours of sitting with a few easy steps.
“There is no such thing as perfect posture,” Beck started. While there is the textbook posture with straight back and shoulders back, staying in any position for too long will inevitably cause pain. She used the table in the room to demonstrate some if the ideal ways to sit when working, up against the table, using the chair to rest your back and armrests to support your arms for typing. One of her main points was to utilize small modifications to your position, easing tension on muscles and the back. There are small stabilizer muscles that hold us up all day, and it is important to rest them by breaking up your routine. When you are fighting gravity all day to keep yourself in an upright position, gravity is going to win. It is important to adjust your neck from looking down at laptops and screens all day. She also showed small exercises that break up the day, like simply extending your arms and legs out, holding your arms together and above your head, and more.
The gathered patrons in attendance took her words to heart, constantly adjusting their posture, legs, and even arms to keep themselves comfortable. Beck advised them to use timers on their phones to remind themselves to move, flex to extend their limbs instead of just moving from one to another, and not to rely too heavily on devices or ergonomic assistance, because that can create a dependency. Everyone left with recourses and the knowledge that working from home doesn’t have to mean being at your desk, in the same spot, for eight hours straight. You can move, adjust, and make sure your body doesn’t stay sedentary for too long.
