Category: Wellness
Date: February 23, 2021
We continued our Wellness conversations with Dylann Craig, whose clinical area of expertise includes orthopedic and sports rehabilitation, physical therapy with manual techniques, functional and corrective exercises, and neuromuscular re-education.
With the drastic changes to people’s work setup over this past year, 50% of Dylann’s caseload are problems with the jaw and back, a huge increase from previous years. He assured us that you can make the most of any work setup, from an office to your home, a hotel to an Airbnb, as there are variables, like your frequency of movement, posture, and work equipment, that are well within your control and optimizing them can make a huge difference in your comfort and wellbeing.
Movement
Generally, after 1-2 hours of sitting, try and stand for an hour.
- You need to get up and move throughout your day!
- Stretch. Your quads and hamstrings are especially important to stretch. For relaxation, the scalene stretch and chin tuck are very effective.
- Do wrist exercises to reduce the risk of carpal tunnel.
Sitting Posture
Set a 30-minute timer to periodically check on your posture.
- Sit upright. Even if you’re working in your bed or on your couch, you need to sit up.
- Maintain a neutral back position.
- Keep your arms and legs at right angles. Forearms should be parallel to the floor.
- Your feet should be flat on the floor.
- Eyes are level with the top of the monitor.
Equipment Recommendations
- Laptop stand
- A keyboard separate from the laptop
- External trackpad or ergonomic mouse – helps you to move your wrist around without stressing your shoulder.
- Document holder – can be free-standing or attach to your screen.
- Blue light glasses – they have a clear lens that filters out blue light from screens, protecting your eyes from glare. The most effective ones are more expensive.
- Adjustable chair
- Armrests – only use these if they keep your arms close to your body.
- Back support – if you’re sitting in your bed, use pillows.
- Standing desk
- Anti-fatigue mat for standing desks
Dylann can be reached at [email protected] and 516-603-9024.