SALEM, Va. – Don’t let technology and working from home be the reason you have neck and back pain.
Dr. Patrick Kennedy, a chiropractor at Kennedy Health and Wellness in Salem, says prevention is key. You have to take action before the aches begin and a lot of us are already behind.
Being hunched over texting or using your computer was a problem before the pandemic and working from home for several weeks, and additional stress right now is not making it any better.
Dr. Kennedy says anytime you do the same thing over and over again it can cause you to have a hunched over back years later. That’s why he recommends switching things up.
“Changing up your routine is good. A stand-up desk, sitting on an exercise ball sometimes, but try not to look down all the time that’s really important, and with all of our technology, we seem to do that a lot lately,” says Dr. Kennedy.
He hopes that this is a wake-up call to not wait until you’re older or when the pain gets severe to visit a chiropractor. It’s part of your overall health.
Dr. Kennedy explains that business initially was slow during the stay-at-home order but it’s quickly picking up, some coming in from that aches of working from home.
He warns to not look down too long, whether it’s at your cell phone or computer.
Dr. Kennedy also notes looking down is referred to as flexion and to prevent a sore back and neck you want the opposite.
“The best thing you could do is anything you can do for extension; push-ups are great, pull-ups are wonderful, getting on an exercise ball and bending over backwards is wonderful to try to help to accommodate to the fact that we’re always bent over.”
Dr. Kennedy says stress can be a factor.
For more information on chiropractor services and Kennedy Health and Wellness, click here.