Image: By Injurymap [CC BY 4.0 ], via Wikimedia Commons
Back pain is a debilitating problem, and it causes employees to have sick days when they are otherwise perfectly well. In fact, at last count there were over 3 million people on long-term sick leave due to back pain in the UK. As you can imagine, this causes a big problem for firms in terms of productivity, staff retention and loss of profit.
Not only that, but back pain means that simple things such as getting dressed, washing and general household tasks, not to mention getting to places, is all but impossible in the worst cases and uncomfortable in the best. This is why it’s ideal if the back pain you are experiencing – which is often caused by your office chair – can be dealt with quickly and easily, giving you your life back and letting you get back to work. Here are some ways that can be done.
- Use an Ergonomic Office Chair
The best way to help back pain that is caused by your current office chair is to replace that chair with an ergonomic one. An ergonomic chair will have been specially designed to ensure that the back, hips, neck and shoulders are in the right positions to give you comfort and allow you to work for longer and be more productive at the same time. If you can swap your current chair for an ergonomic chair, you can prevent your back pain from becoming so bad that you have to take time off work because of it.
- Massage
Getting a massage can be a good way to help with back pain caused by the wrong office chair, although it should always be done by a professional if you have an existing back complaint; you don’t want an amateur to make things worse.
There are companies who specialise in corporate massage, coming to your place of work and giving you a massage that will unknot exactly the right places. If your company doesn’t allow this to happen in their premises, you may have to book for an evening or weekend massage, but since it can definitely help, it is worth doing.
- Sleep Well
Although a good night’s sleep won’t cure a really bad back (not on its own anyway), it will help to make you feel better if you have a minor twinge or ache. When you sleep, your body has the chance to repair itself. That’s why, if you’re feeling under the weather or you’re in some discomfort, having a sleep can make you feel a lot more like yourself again. It works on your brain as well as your body, and that’s why if you have a particularly difficult problem to solve, sleeping on it really can help you come up with a solution.
But that sleep needs to be quality sleep in order to work. If you don’t get enough of it or you keep waking up then your body is simply not going to get this important reparation job done. It’s important that you try for at least seven to eight hours of sleep a night as this allows the work to be done to a good level.
- Take Breaks
Taking breaks when you’re at work is another way to stop your back from hurting and from doing too much damage. If you’re not using an ergonomic chair, you need to take even more breaks. At least every hour, if not more, you should get up from that chair and take a walk around the office. Just a five-minute break is often enough to re-set everything for you.
Even when sitting in an ergonomic chair you should take breaks – it’s not just your body that needs to move around; your eyes can be strained when looking at one screen for too long, and they can become dry and uncomfortable. A break can also help with this.