Many of us are working at home right now - and schooling from home - and analysts continue to project that this mode of working will likely stay even after the Covid-19 pandemic is over. Many people are improvising their "workstation" and using multiple surfaces and devices to be productive - tablets on couches, laptops on dining tables for instance.
Though convenient and seemingly comfortable at first, quickly manifests into neck pain and back pain for many. Our rule of thumb is - if you have to work from home at a computer for more than a couple of hours a day, you need to have an ergonomics setup that is conducive to long-term health.
Stride Strong Physical Therapy can perform a Work From Home Ergonomics Check where we can evaluate your work-from-home ergonomics setup and give you suggestions on how to improve your workstation. We help alleviate pressure points and patterns that cause neck and back discomfort via small changes to your setup. This may mean altering heights of your chair, desk, monitor, altering distances of your mouse or keyboard to exactly suit your body and natural posture. We may even make suggestions on affordable peripherals like footstools, monitor risers, and wrist pads to improve your individual needs.
The Work From Home Ergonomics Check is health insurance reimbursable if you are already suffering from neck or back pain. You may also be eligible for a Workman's Compensation claim, and your employer may be required to support you with proper ergonomics equipment.
Children and teenagers who are schooling from home with virtual school can also benefit from an ergonomics check.
Visits are done via telehealth and usually take about an hour from start to finish. It is ideal to have a secondary device like a tablet or a laptop to conduct the visit as we analyze your posture at your working computer station.