Working From Home? Have Back Or Neck Pain? You're Not Alone!

Working from home has been a dream job for many people for years now, and now that it's happening, are you noticing neck or back pain?

You're not alone! A lot of people have been reporting injuries, while just staying at home.

“I’m seeing a lot of injuries just from people being in - too static or being in one position for a long period of time,” Amanda Scharen, director of Therapeutic Associates in Seattle’s Queen Anne neighborhood, said to KIRO.

Bad posture, being stuck in one position for a while are contributing to these 'stay at home injuries.'

“A lot of neck and back pain and associated things such as pinched nerves or pain running down the arm or running down the leg. I’m also seeing a lot of shoulder injuries,” Amanda told KIRO.

Get our free mobile app

Abigail Parker, who works from home, says she feels these pains from hours of just staying at home in her at-home office.

“You find yourself kind of leaning over if you’re on a laptop, and that’s what I’m doing most of the time,” says Parker.

So, how can you solve these pains? Good posture should clearly be one of them, but if it were only that easy.

Brad Defenbaugh, who is an IRG Physical and Hand Therapist, suggests the following things, to hopefully help relieve these pains.

Laptop stand
Wireless keyboard and mouse
Adjustable chairs
Adjustable computer monitors

“Everything is modifiable,” Defenbaugh told KIRO. “It’s just how much do you want to spend on it? And how much room do you have...Most people’s situation looks like this - they have a laptop, that the biggest problem is you can’t separate the monitor and you’re just crammed in here looking down at the screen. This is $15 dollars that you can put on a stand like this. Make sure that the screen is at eye level,”

If you aren't so willing to spend some extra cash, then make sure you're getting up to move every half hour or so and get around and move for about five minutes. Those five minutes could prevent more future aches and pains.