Sitting All Day? How to Deal with Neck and Low Back Pain

One of the many adjustments employees have had to make during the COVID-19 pandemic has been shifting to a work-from-home lifestyle. Given the uncertainty around the pandemic, it’s hard to predict when we’ll be able to get back into the office. Accompanying this major lifestyle change, many have experienced neck and lower back pain from sitting for hours in a suboptimal home-office environment. 

What Causes Neck and Low Back Pain

Neck and low back pain are very common among adults with more than 80% of adults experiencing back pain and 10% of adults experiencing neck pain at some point in their lives. Everyday neck and low back pain are most closely related to poor daily habits, including:

• Poor home office ergonomics
• Lifting items with incorrect form 
• Sedentary behavior/ Physical inactivity
• Lack of stress management
• Decreased sleep quality 

Risks for Neck and Low Back Pain

In addition to the daily habits listed above, there are additional factors that can increase the likelihood of chronic neck and low back pain: 

• A body mass index above 25
• Intense acute pain
• Prolonged desk work
• History of other bodily pain

For individuals who have developed intense or chronic pain, we recommend seeing a healthcare professional for an assessment. At Avid Sports Medicine, we offer a team-based approach to care led by Dr. Veronica Jow, a Bay Area Sports Medicine Doctor. We offer diagnosis from a  medical specialist, functional assessment and a customized treatment plan on your first visit. 

Most low back pain is considered to be “nonspecific”. This means the pain isn’t clearly attributable to any one disease, injury, or abnormality. While it can be frustrating to have pain with no identifiable cause, it may help to know that this type of back pain typically improves on its own within a few weeks. Likewise, it is possible to have neck pain that is difficult to associate with a cause, even with physical assessments and imaging tests.

To read more about potential diagnoses, check out our blogs posts that offer a deeper dive into neck pain and low back pain. 

Approaches to Recovery

Often, the best approach to treating neck and low back pain is a conservative one. At Avid Sports Medicine, we incorporate a multidisciplinary team approach to ensure care is tailored to the individual. Treatment for everyday pain includes: 

• Therapeutic exercises
• Workspace modifications
• Work habit modifications
• Medications, ice and heat

In addition to the non-invasive treatment strategies above, chiropractic care and sports massage may be helpful in tackling neck and low back pain. Dr. Jow utilizes minimally invasive treatments such as steroid injections and PRP for individuals who have chronic pain. Avid Sports Medicine is also the premier provider of EPAT in San Francisco, a treatment protocol that has shown significant improvements for individuals suffering from localized chronic low back pain. 

Sitting or standing at work all day can lead to unnecessary long-term pain. Avid Sports Medicine offers clinic assessments (in-office and virtual), as well as employee wellness solutions to address the culprits of pain. In addition to treating injuries and pain, our ergonomic sessions and signature body breaks have been instrumental in helping employees adjust to the work from home setting.