If you have an office-based job, then even if you have been doing it at home more lately, you are likely to be tied to a desk and a computer for hours on end each day. Although this is a necessity, you need to be making sure that you are looking after your health by sitting correctly. Sitting at a desk with bad posture or being hunched over a small laptop screen can be damaging to your health, particularly when it comes to muscular aches and pains, when done each day for hours and hours. If you want to improve any back pain that you have, or know how to avoid it in the first place, then here are some things to think about.
Think about and maintain correct posture
If someone was to assess your posture right now, what would they say? We can easily slip into little habits where our shoulders become more rolled and our stomach becomes more slouched. It is important to think about and maintain good posture when sitting at a desk, otherwise your body can face strain and lead to pain. You should also think about and maintain correct posture when doing other activities. Watching Netflix, driving the car, and doing sports can all impact any muscular pain that we can feel if we do not maintain correct posture.
Hot and cold therapy
If you already have back pain, then have you considered using hot and cold therapy on the painful area? This is where you use a mixture of heat and cold to help the muscles to heal. This can be a good way to help to reduce swelling in a painful area with the cold, but also help to promote healthy healing with the heat. It could be a mixture of ice packs of packs of frozen peas, with wheat bags or hot water bottles.
Consider seeing a chiropractor
If you find that you regularly have back pain and feel like your posture and desk setup are acceptable, then you could think about seeing a chiropractor. What they will do is use their hands to help your muscles, joints, and bones. If there are problems in these areas then this can help massively.
Stretch
Stretching and making your body more flexible through something like yoga or pilates can really make a difference to how you feel. You might want to do this each morning before work, or each evening after work. It will help as it will open up the muscles that you will use or have used and can give some relief to any pain. Of course, if anything feels too painful, then you should stop stretching and get some medical advice.
As a rule, if you are a healthy weight and exercise regularly, then your body should be able to deal with any back pain quickly and easily, alongside these points above. However, if you are suffering, then over-the-counter painkillers can be taken, and then you should seek medical advice.