‘ACHES & PAINS’ – DOUBLE TROUBLE DURING LOCKDOWN

(Dr Supriyaa Bhakthavatchalam)

During this ongoing phase of lockdown due to the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, working from home and running a household, have increased the physical demands on the body substantially. There are various contributing factors; the mechanics of the way we perform household chores, prolonged hours of sitting and lastly, ignoring our fitness routine that are being practiced at home without any kind of a motivation, and hence personal health has inadvertently taken a backseat.

As much as we (doctors) empathize with most of our patient’s who complain of aches and pains, visiting us, after practising numerous bizzare, unproven (and ultimately ineffective) solutions and sometimes even procuring over-the-counter pills to get rid of the pain, little do we realise that a bulk of these pains are attributed to incorrect posture / inactivity.

Once the aforementioned causes are addressed and lifestyle changes implemented, and giving you no respite, that’s when you know ,you will need to visit your doc to rule out other medical/ orthopaedic/ rheumatologic disorders for the pains.

With huge hopes that the dust soon settles over the ongoing rage of COVID-19 pandemic and the world is back to all its glory and amidst concerns of bringing back the normalcy, it is important to understand that there will be new ‘normals.’

Here are a few changes that we can implement in our daily routine to stay healthy and injury-free, while enjoying the benefits, our home has to offer.

Topics elucidated are :

1) IMPROVING SPINAL STRENGTH :

2) POSTURE TRAINING

3) ACTIVITY MODIFICATION 

4) CREATING COMFORTABLE WORKING ENVIRONMENT (ERGONOMICS)

5) MOBILITY

6) BREAKING MONOTONY

7) CULTIVATE A FITNESS ROUTINE

• IMPROVING SPINAL STRENGTH – repetitive and sustained loading causes wear & tear to the spine. Avoid repeated forward bending activities and modify your household chores to reduce the load on the spine. Begin and end your day with 5-10 reps of full range mobility exercises like a child pose stretch.
• POSTURE TRAINING – while performing activities that requires prolonged standing such as cooking, washing utensils, gardening, mopping to name a few, we tend to stand with our arms protruding out and pelvis pushed forward, which may induce strain on the ligaments and muscles of the lower back leading to mechanical low back pains and painful limitation of movements. Ideally, one should stand with his or her back perpendicular to the floor, and legs slightly apart, ensuring that there is equal distribution of weight between both legs while you stand.
• ACTIVITY MODIFICATION here are some important modifications we can make while conducting common household routines, (like cleaning, mopping and doing laundry). Use step stools or Ladders to avoid overstraining the arms while cleaning overhead objects / surfaces. While mopping, use longest stick to maintain an erect posture rather than being half bent over. Another easy modification you can make volume of is to get onto your hands and knees and get into a crawling position. The crawl is a much safer position than the sword. When lifting laundry out of the machine get into a mini squat instead of bending forward. As much as possible, avoid repeatedly bending forward and replace it with postures that are safe to the spine. During phone and video calls, use headphones or the speaker phone option rather than squeezing the phone between your shoulder and neck while you multitask. This prevents the building of undue tightness in the muscles at the side of the neck, which can be a cause for the dull aching, neck pain.
• CREATING A RELAXED WORKING ENVIRONMENT (ERGONOMICS) while working from home, follow the same ergonomic rules that one would while at workplace. The screen should always be maintained at eye level arms and feet supported at all times and thighs parallel to the ground. Take the tension off your neck by ensuring that you do not shrug your shoulders. You can use a small cushion for lumbar support. You can switch to standing desk to offload the spine from prolonged sitting position.

5)  MOBILITY- sitting posture and excessive use of the phone and computer increase the tension in the muscles of the neck (due to constant / repeated flexion of the neck) and lower back. Stretch your overworked muscles and give some rest to the spine before getting back to similar posture. An exercise while your seated is upper back rotation to prevent thoracic spine from getting stiff. A simple and easy way to prevent knee stiffness is by doing in couple of knee extension in sitting position every hour or two, and walking across your working room for a few minutes every 30mins. Walk the talk to attend office / other calls whenever feasible.

6)   BREAKING MONOTONY -most of you are working from home and it is more important than ever before to give yourself a break. Every 35 to 40 minutes get off your seat and take about 30 seconds before you get back to that position. Sitting position causes increased mechanical loads on the spine, which leads to avoidable low back pain. Moreover, walking also helps in pumping the blood from your lower body towards your heart and hence, reduces the circulation load on the heart.

7)  CULTIVATE A FITNESS ROUTINE – to get through an entire day efficiently and without complaining of aches and pains, one must remember to strengthen not only the back muscles. Make sure fitness regimen comprises of upper and lower body core workout. Standing is as important as stretching.

Having covered most of the do’s and don’t’s , here are some of the points to conclude:  -hydrate adequately to and make sure you don’t cramp or cause early muscle fatigue, which can in turn reduce your working speed

 -Use a heat pack to take care of the muscle soreness after intense workout

 -progress your exercises slowly, allowing your muscles to adapt in order to prevent injury