WSMC Physiotherapist, Ziyaad Mohamed writes about ergonomics and the "new normal"

This year has been one for the books - Whilst having started beautifully on the back of an emphatic Rugby World Cup win, to Miss Universe making our nation proud, our Protea Netball team crowned champions in Africa and not forgetting the awe inspiring Ndlovu Youth Choir on achieving such remarkable recognition all around the world; as South Africa we were destined for a massively successful year ahead. 

Who would have thought that we would be subjected to a sudden “state of disaster “with our president having announced a nationwide lockdown? 

But in typical South African fashion we have proved to be a nation supportive of its administration, compassionate in the preservation of human life and always resilient in its overcoming of all and any obstacles. 

All these changes sprung up due to the threat of the Coronavirus, but work has had to go on behind the scenes, from our heroic medical personnel to government employed workers, to those who were forced to pack up and transfer their offices into their homes and maintain a productive level of working. 

Even though employees having begun such a transition from office-based work to working from home may sound absolutely appealing, considering that all you have to do is wake up in the morning and you can immediately begin accomplishing your daily deliverables.

It’s all fun at first — working on your couch or navigating your laptop while lying on your bed. But we don’t really feel the pains of working from home until several days later when we feel the strains on our necks, shoulders, and back. Because the COVID-19 pandemic came in a flash, many employees did not foresee having to work from home. Thus, they weren’t able to prepare an ergonomic work station to adapt during the imposed lockdown and self-quarantine.

In these trying times, businesses still have to run and operate, but the employees are becoming less productive. Part of the reason is due to the many distractions of working from home, and the difficulty of adapting to a new working dynamic. But a huge bulk of it has something to do with ergonomics. You can’t really expect to be productive and efficient if you’re experiencing neck pain after a mere 2-3 hours of work.

As a physiotherapist I believe it’s incredibly important to maintain a healthy posture while working to ensure productivity and to prevent serious injuries in the neck, back, elbows and wrists, among others 

We all may have heard the term ‘ergonomics’ and may well know that it’s synonymous with having a suitable chair with a backrest , keeping the feet flat on the floor while working , elevating your monitor , good hand wrist posture while typing or working with your mouse (and the list may go on for a while ) but in these trying times , one of the most important aspects of ergonomics could be the “timing “ 

Yes , how long you subject yourself to the seated position while working (or sitting doing anything else ) can indeed have negative effects on your spine , neck and or general body alignment  . In my experience sitting for too long, even if it be in the state of the art ergonomic chair could still pose a threat to you winding up with the above mentioned injuries or perhaps even others; so just imagine what could happen while trying to mimic the same level of productivity from home.

If you’re sitting on a non-ergonomic chair, you should be standing and taking breaks every now and then to avoid excessive strain on your body. Ideally swapping between sitting and standing while working every hour. 

So yes, it’s not only about the kind of chair you have and use at the office or home , but more likely to be a question of how it is used - from having a good sleep the night before , to adequate amount and type of exercise , to the amount of time you actually spend on the chair , could all contribute to having better health and quality of life weather in or out of your chair. 

As we anticipate the presidential address and the easing of our lockdown protocol to level 3, many would still have to continue working from home;   this work might become more demanding especially as economical operations gear into to full swing. This could add pressure to employees whilst companies, businesses and CEOs attempt a recovery from time and business lost during levels 4 and 5 . 

I have added a few tips to help this process to be more productive and sustainable:

Find your workspace: Try to differentiate your workspace from your home space to help you get into the right frame of mind. Find a spot in your house where you can set up your ‘home office’, if possible, separate from where you spend your downtime (e.g. not in bed or on the sofa, which also isn’t great for your posture)

• Work in short bursts and remember to regularly take note of  your posture (chin poking forward , shoulders rounding too much , pain in neck and middle back are all bad signs ) 
• It’s easy to become so involved in your work that you forget about breaks altogether. I can’t stress enough how important it is to take regular breathers – and to make them count.
• Get away from your desk and your phone if possible. Go for a walk, take your tea or coffee break, do some exercises exercise even if it be intermittent stretching or simple postural corrective exercise (see below)

Neck and trapezius Stretches 

Chin tuck exercise - to combat the chin poking forward which happens when seated for a long time at a laptop etc

Shoulder rolls - can be done while seated as well 

Simple postural correction and helps create awareness of your shoulder position. 

If you can, try standing at your computer for a bit if you have something safe and at the right height to rest your computer on (maybe a high chest of drawers or secure shelf).

• Switch off so you can switch on: Research has proven that a short nap during the day could actually do you more good than an 8-9 hour sleep during the night - in terms of productivity this would be great , and also allowing your muscles and nerves to have a rest and reset before your next bout could optimize your concentration levels thus bearing less strain in your neck and overall posture

• Productivity hours: Think about when you feel most energized and plan your heavy lifting tasks for when you know you'll be in the right state of mind for them. And use slower points of the day to knock out the easier tasks. 

Simple tips and guidelines of how workstation ergonomics should be set up – above image- 

Finally, remember that we’re all in this together. This strange time won’t last forever and will soon be a distant memory. We’ll soon be back in the office, scrambling for meeting rooms and complaining about the broken coffee machine again.

Hopefully, one good thing that will come from all this is a new appreciation of successful flexible working practices, and appreciation of your body and its structures and how they respond to various stresses 

For more info check our website www.wsmcbullring.com

Or email wsmc.physio1@gmail.com