Back pain? Set up your at-home desk the safer way
When Jessica Pallotta of Shirley spotted her aqua chair and matching desk in IKEA, she was attracted to the popping color and style of the pieces, but lately, the setup has become a pain — literally. “It’s a metal rolling chair and a little desk. It’s uncomfortable when you’re spending nine hours a day with it,” Pallotta, 32, says. “I get lower back pain really bad.”
Ergonomic experts and doctors say Pallotta's experience is typical of telecommuting workers who have found themselves feeling new back, neck and other pains working from home offices that aren’t up to the task.
The authorities say people should know there are things they can do to make their home workspaces work better, ranging from no-cost solutions such as doing intermittent stretches to purchasing office furniture that has both function and style. If someone continues to work from an improper workspace, they could end up in a doctor’s office.
Jessica Pallotta works from her home office on a metal chair and tiny desk located in the basement of her Shirley home. Credit: Jessica Pallotta
“We are seeing an increase in patients presenting with acute pain and tightness in both the neck and upper back and in the lower back,” says Dr. Jonathan Finkelstein, regional medical director of New York Spine & Pain Physicians in Babylon. “Most patients are reporting that they are spending a lot more time using a computer, whether it is for school or for work.”
He adds symptoms generally worsen throughout the day. “This is occurring not only in patients with preexisting issues," he says. (Pallotta, a mother of three and resource coordinator for a Yaphank textile company, did have a vertebrae fracture when delivering her oldest daughter.) "But [also] with patients that have never had neck pain or back pain before.”
Whether you're working at a sitting or standing desk, here's the right way to position yourself at home to avoid unwanted pain. Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto/bestsale
Kevin Costello, president of the national United States Ergonomics company (us-ergo.com), based in Glen Head, notes that many telecommuters don’t work from a desk at all. As a corporate and home ergonomics consultant, Costello says that throughout the country he sees people working in extreme places, like on laptops from hammocks or sitting in their bathtubs in their clothing.
Pallotta’s “work station” is in her basement. Her husband, Edward, 33, an operations manager for a Melville asset management firm, works upstairs on a kitchen table that’s sometimes shared with the couple’s middle daughter, Chloe, 10. His “chair” is a backless wooden bench, and he says his setup causes his back and shoulders to “kill” him.
Jessica Pallotta's husband, Edward, uses the family's kitchen table for his "desk" that he sometimes shares with his daughter, Chloe, 10. His chair is a backless wood bench. Credit: Jessica Pallotta
“Many people are working from their dining room table or the coffee table and after three or four hours they say, ‘My back hurts, my neck hurts,’ ” Costello says. “It’s a fatiguing of the musculature and they need to try to improve their posture so they’re not getting into these [awkward] positions and get their circulation going.”
Louis P. Pou, president and CEO of LPS Office Interiors in Farmingdale (lpsofficeinteriors.com) adds that people looking to create a home office often make the mistake of thinking that all chairs and desks are created equal and that they can fashion a workspace using cheap office furniture or things they have around the house without thinking it will make a difference.
Pou says, “Purchasing inexpensive furniture from discount outlets or large chain dealers is a mistake. Although price is important, health and longevity are important.”
And what about the newer desks that are adjustable for working in a standing position, are those best? That’s debatable.
“New and revamped offices are going to a [convertible] sitting to standing desk solution,” Costello says. “When you’re working from home you can have the same effect” by using stacks of books or boxes — even pillows — for height adjustments.
But Finkelstein says, “Standing desks are not necessarily better than a standard desk. Standing for extended periods of time can cause just as much back pain as sitting.” He adds, “For back pain, the optimal solution is usually a combination of sitting and standing, using so-called sit/stand desks.”
Finkelstein notes that standing desks may not work well for people with spinal pathology such as herniated disks or arthritis of the spine and they should discuss the best position with their pain management physician.
The good news the authorities agree on, however, is that simple changes to a home workspace can prevent pains and injury.
“The most important thing to remember, whether you are using a standing desk or a standard desk, is that you must actively stretch frequently to decrease chances of injury,” Finkelstein says. “Proper positioning of the spine, such as sitting or standing upright, and keeping the neck straight and shoulders back, are also important to avoid injury and decrease pain.”
SUGGESTED EXERCISES:
Source: Dr. Jonathan Finkelstein, regional medical director of New York Spine & Pain Physicians in Babylon. He recommends taking a break every 30 minutes to walk around and stretch.
1. Got tech neck? Try the standing neck stretch. Feet hip-width apart; place hands by your sides; slowly extend both hands behind your bottom, then hold right wrist with left hand; gently pull right arm straight and slightly away from body.
2. At quitting time, relax tight muscles with a clasped neck stretch. While sitting cross-legged on the floor, clasp hands behind head and gently press palms against your skull. Make sure spine is fully extended and that you are sitting up straight; push head toward lap.
3. Is your chair torturing your lower back? Check out the knee-to-chest stretch. Lie down on your back and bend knees with feet flat on the floor. Keep shoulders pressed against the floor; slowly roll knees to one side while still bent. Hold the stretch for five to 10 seconds. Move to other side.
4. When in doubt, stretch it out. The lower back rotational stretch takes only a few minutes. Lie on your back on the floor with feet flat and knees bent. Keep hands on your chest, slowly move knees to one side; hold for 10 to 15 seconds. Move knees back up and move to the other side.
