Does your back hurt after a few hours at your desk or carrying your toddler up the stairs?If yes, then keep reading.
October is Global Ergonomics Month – a perfect time to level up your ergonomics know how.
Why? Because modern lifestyles may be hurting us more than we think.
In this article, we’ll define ergonomics, explain why proper ergonomics is essential for good health, and provide tips to protect yourself and your loved ones at work, home, school, and play.
What does ‘good ergonomics’ really mean?
Ergonomics is the science of designing our spaces to fit our bodies, ensuring that our environment, tools, equipment, and habits support how our bodies naturally move.
Most people have heard of ergonomics as it relates to work spaces, but it’s important to note that ergonomics apply to any setting including home, recreational, and outdoor spaces too.
There are three primary components of ergonomics:
- Human – looks at the physical, emotional, and mental output required for a given activity
- Tasks/jobs – considers the actions being performed and how they are completed
- Environment – involves the layout, technology, and tools involved
Activities integrate these three components, and either support or strain the person performing them. Proper ergonomic considerations are important for short term safety, comfort, and efficiency, and are also necessary to minimize strain, injury, and burnout over the long term.
Ergonomics by the numbers
Let’s face it, we are all getting older. But did you know that pain related disabilities increase as we age, making it essential to do whatever we can to prevent them. It’s important to consider ergonomic factors consistently and at every age.
Consider these figures:
- Pain related disabilities affect 16.7% of Canadians
- Of those, 63% say the pain is persistent and recurring
- 2 million Canadians report being housebound as a result of these disabilities
Source: Statistics Canada
The link between ergonomics and wellness
Ergonomics play an important role everywhere. Whether sleeping, dining, gardening, commuting, or enjoying a favourite hobby, your body is constantly interacting, adapting, and responding. Depending on those interactions, they may work for or against your body’s natural movement patterns, affecting how you function, perform and feel.
Here are examples of small ergonomic shifts that can make a big difference:
- Use an office chair with back support, if seated for long periods
- Maintain elbows at 90 degrees when using a keyboard
- Place feet flat on the floor when working at a desk
- Take frequent rest and movement breaks, every 45 minutes for 5-10 minutes ideally
- Use an appropriate sized pillow for nighttime sleep
- Pack a backpack no heavier than 10-15% of body weight
Tip: The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety and The Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers Inc. have developed specific ergonomic guides for the office, at school, for garden and yard work, and sleep.
For parents and caregivers
A quick note for anyone caring for children, youth, or young adults. You may not realize the impact repetitive bending, lifting, and awkward postures may have on your body, but if not performed safely or correctly, these movements may start to take a toll.
Poor ergonomics may also affect your child’s posture, and given the rapid rate of growth during childhood, this can have long term consequences. Learn more about how posture impacts growth and development.
Tip: Technology is everywhere and sometimes prolonged screen use is problematic. Learn more about ‘text neck’ and other potential risks of prolonged device use in our recent blog.
Warning signs and what to watch for
There are tell-tale signs that your body is under significant stress. At Alliance Chiropractic and Wellness, our focus is your musculoskeletal system – bones, joints, muscles, tendons, ligaments, and cartilage. Here are some red flags that we look for in patients that are often related to ergonomic factors:
- Pain, tingling, or numbness in hands or feet
- Stiff neck or shoulders
- Low back pain
- Headaches after work or screen use
- Limited joint movement
- Imbalance in hip height
- Foot arch pain
The human body likes to communicate – if something does not feel right then pay attention.
Nurture an ergonomic mindset
No, we’re not talking about making radical changes to your lifestyle but it is important to understand that the impact of your habits and choices today may not reveal themselves until later.
But that can work in your favour too: small adjustments now can make a big difference in your long term and future health.
Good ergonomics today can help reduce strain, minimize fatigue, and reduce discomfort, preventing pain and potential injury or disability later.
If you are unsure of where to begin, we can help.
A final word
Don’t wait until signs and symptoms present themselves before taking action to address ergonomic factors. Book an assessment today to see if you may be prone to risk of future injury. Our team can identify potential problem areas before they become big issues, and provide individualized recommendations to keep you and your family safe and feeling your best at home, work, school, and play.
If you have questions about this blog or any other health and wellness concern, contact our team. If we can’t help, we will recommend alternate resources that can.
Information for this blog was sourced from the Alliance blog library, The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, The Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers Inc., and Statistics Canada.
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