Remote work. Who should benefit from physiotherapy and when?

Working from home has many positive as well as negative effects. It can take a toll on your mental and physical health. Among other things, this is because we have limited access to activity during our free time after work.
How does prolonged remote working and learning affect health?

Consequently, remote work can give you a variety of musculoskeletal complaints:

    1. Wrist pains.
      The cause: Inadequate support for the wrists and forearms during prolonged periods of work with a keyboard and mouse.
      In order to avoid pain and further complications, such as carpal tunnel syndrome, it is important to ensure that the wrists are properly supported and that the chair and desk are set at the correct ergonomic height.
    2. Lumbosacral back pain.
      Cause: Sitting position puts strain on the lumbar spine, long sitting, leaning the body forward and a chair that does not support it comfortably.
      It is worth changing the posture, standing up frequently, taking regular breaks, relieving the back in the lower spine with a specialized small pillow.
    3. Tension in the pelvis, in the hips.
      Cause: Sitting in such a way that a right angle is formed between the thighs and the torso. This position promotes back pain.
      Make sure you have a good office chair to relieve strain on your hips. Remember to get up regularly every 20-30 minutes, and do stretching exercises.
    4. Neck, neck and shoulder pain, headaches.
      Cause: leaning our head and shoulders towards the monitor, which is the result of us hunching our back.
      So it is worth ensuring that the laptop/monitor is set at the right height, we put our neck forward and tilt our head, putting strain on our neck muscles and cervical spine. In order to reduce this phenomenon you should position the screen at eye level, adjust the height of the chair or use laptop stands.

Patients often ask us: How can we minimize the consequences of the isolation and lack of opportunity for a diverse pool of physical activity that the current epidemic is forcing us to do?

First of all, prevention.
As soon as the symptoms appear we should visit a physiotherapist for a consultation or implementation of therapy.

It is worth taking care of prevention to minimize the risk and avoid serious discomfort. The key is to change the lifestyle to a more active one, taking care of the right body position and maintaining the right weight. For people who work long hours at a computer, it is important to do preventive back exercises, stretching and strengthening.

Back pain and muscle aches are something that almost everyone has to deal with from time to time.
Therefore, we recommend taking care of the following on a daily basis:
– physical activity adapted to yourself,
– take care to introduce into your diet vitamins and minerals that support the musculoskeletal system
– correct posture while standing and sitting, we minimize the risk of developing serious problems with the spine, preventing normal functioning.
– Regular change of posture while working.

Once a student asked one of the lecturers:
– “Professor, what is the best posture?”
He replied:
– “Next.”

Manual therapy, combined with patient education and exercise, works well for both acute and chronic musculoskeletal complaints.

What are the most common problems patients come to us with?

Cervical, thoracic, lumbar discopathy;
Sciatica;
Femoral sciatica;
Carpal tunnel syndrome;
Guyon’s canal tunnel syndrome;
Tension headaches;
Tennis elbow – Read more on the blog
Golfers elbow – Read more on the blog

Runner’s knee;
Jumper’s knee;
Other Tendinopathies – including Achilles tendon, posterior tibialis m. tendon, biceps tendon of the shoulder;
Knee of the movie-goer;
Chonodromalacia of the patella;
Hallux valgus;
Heel spur;
Plantar fasciitis;
Degenerative joint changes

Spinal pain;
Spinal pain with radiation of pain to a limb;
Numbness and tingling in the hands;
Painful muscle strains resulting from overload, such as office work, stooped posture, or sports overexertion;
Restriction of neck mobility;
Reduced mobility of limb joints, e.g., shoulder, knee;
Shoulder pain;
Knee pain;
Hip and groin pain;
Ankle and foot pain;
Pain in the heel and sole of the foot;
Elbow pain;
Pain in the wrist and hand.