Office Syndrome is a disease caused by people having inappropriate work styles, such as sitting at a desk and working continuously for many hours without moving or getting up. This disease often occurs with people who work and have to sit in front of a computer screen for a long time or almost all the time. If there are behaviors like this, it will affect the overall health of many body systems.
In this era where news reports the number of COVID-19 infections before other news, and the number of infections is rising to compete with oil prices, office workers who travel to work or work from home must have experienced it. If you think about it, you may encounter it more often than your boss. Today, I will take everyone to get to know it more. The more you know about it, the less you will have to encounter it. We all hate it, right?
Office Syndrome: What is it?
It is a group of muscle pains that occur in a specific part of the body. The victims of these symptoms are usually people who sit in front of a computer for a long time or work in the same position without changing their posture for several hours a day. This also includes being in an improper posture while working.
“Because people are not machines, if we use our bodies too much, it will have consequences.”
Have you ever seen robots in movies working? They can stay in the same position and work all day without any back or neck pain at all. But for humans, it’s not like that at all. Sitting in front of a computer for too long, sitting or standing with a hunched back, hunching shoulders, or raising the shoulders, or bending the neck too much is like opening the way for office syndrome to easily come to you. And if you think it’s not serious, you’re making a big mistake.
“It may not be able to handle you with office syndrome, but it can draw other diseases to handle you.”
Every symptom or disease, think of it as a friend. Never underestimate the minor symptoms of office syndrome because it can result in symptoms of musculoskeletal system diseases, such as chronic muscle inflammation, tendonitis of the wrist that compresses the nerves, abnormalities of nerve tension, inflammation of the muscles in the outer forearm, inflammation of the tendons. In addition, it also includes diseases related to the eye system and digestive system.
Causes of Office Syndrome
First of all, if I were to answer honestly, I would have to say that the cause is our own fault. As we all know, office syndrome is caused by working on a certain task repeatedly for many hours a day or working in an improper posture continuously, which is a behavior that we have created ourselves.
“Mental causes that affect the body”
In addition to the above repetitive or inappropriate work behaviors, there are also things that are not related to our behaviors, such as work equipment that is not suitable for the worker, such as a desk or chair that is too high or too low. But it is not just external factors that cause office syndrome. Internal factors such as work stress, anxiety, insufficient rest, inadequate nutrition, and mental state can create office syndrome just as well as physical condition.
Office Syndrome: What are the symptoms?
Office syndrome is characterized by pain and fatigue in a specific part of the body, such as the shoulders, neck, and shoulder blades. The pain is a widespread pain, and the severity can range from mild to severe and excruciating. If the nerves are compressed for too long, there will be weakness in that organ. If it is severe, there will be symptoms of the autonomic nervous system, such as dizziness, coldness, tingling, goosebumps, and sweating in the painful area. Or if it is in the neck area, there may be dizziness, tinnitus, and blurred vision.
3 levels of Office Syndrome severity
- Early stage The first symptoms are pain and fatigue while working or after finishing work. When getting proper rest, the pain improves and is not chronic. The duration is about 1-2 weeks, after which it can return to normal.
- Intermediate stage: Moderate pain, there is a point that is pressed and painful, muscles are tense all the time while working, and the pain will be worse while working. Sometimes the pain will continue until night time. The ability to work is reduced. The duration is 1-2 months.
- Late stage: Severe pain, constant fatigue while working, even after resting, symptoms do not improve. Other symptoms include muscle weakness, numbness in the hands and arms, inability to sleep or rest. The duration of the pain is several months or in some cases up to a year.
Office Syndrome Treatment
For any office workers who find themselves experiencing it without realizing it, just know that neck, shoulder, back pain, or headaches are office syndrome. From the content above that I have mentioned, you can probably see what it can do to us. Therefore, these are 8 ways to treat office syndrome that everyone needs.
1. Change your posture sometimes.
We already know that sitting in front of a computer without changing posture is the main cause of office syndrome. So let’s fix the root cause by not sitting in the same position for a long time. If you feel sore, relax your body and mind, move around, get up and stretch.
2. Adjust your sitting position.
Sitting with a hunched back, hunched shoulders, or leaning back can cause muscle fatigue and damage your posture. Therefore, we should adjust our sitting posture to be correct for our health and personality.
- Sitting with your buttocks close to the backrest and your back straight helps prevent buttock pain and reduces muscle tension in the abdominal muscles and pelvic muscles. Most importantly, sitting with your back straight helps prevent herniated discs because hunching over increases the load on your spine. The force acting on tissues and fixed objects causes a breaking point, which is our spinal discs.
- The height of the armrests should be at the same level as the keyboard/mouse. When standing, they should also be parallel.
- The height of the screen must be appropriate. It must meet the top edge of the screen exactly, so that the head does not have to look down or up.
- The distance between the screens is approximately one arm’s length.
- The length of the cushion is 2-3 fingers away from the knee joint.
- Hips and knees flexed 90 degrees
- Place your feet flat on the floor. When standing, your feet should be flat on the floor.
3. Do not stare at the computer for long periods of time.
The body needs rest, and so do your eyes. You should rest your eyes every hour because staring at the computer screen for too long can cause eye muscle pain and headaches.
4. Improve the living and working environment.
The atmosphere in the office should not be too crowded, should have good ventilation, the lighting in the room should be appropriate, not too bright or too dark, and importantly, the office should avoid direct sunlight or light from outside shining into the room, because too bright light can easily cause reflections on the screen, which can make the eyes feel uncomfortable.
5. Exercise regularly.
Exercise is a great way to help people with office syndrome recover, especially sports that help stretch and build muscle flexibility, such as yoga, swimming, and cycling.
6. Treatment with medication
For those with more severe office syndrome, medication may be required for treatment, such as muscle and tendon inflammation relief drugs, stress relievers. These drugs should be considered and prescribed by a doctor.
7. Rehabilitation medicine
Physical therapy such as ultrasound, neck traction, Western acupuncture, or exercise instruction is suitable for people who have had it for a long time or have become chronic.
8. Shock Wave
Shock Wave is a highly effective tool for treating patients with chronic pain that has not improved after various treatments, such as elbow pain, elbow tendonitis, plantar fasciitis, shoulder pain, back pain, hip pain radiating down the leg, chronic plantar fasciitis, plantar fasciitis, knee pain, sports injuries, etc.
Prevention of Office Syndrome
If it starts, it is difficult to cure. Therefore, it is better not to start from the beginning. Exercise, stretching to increase flexibility and strengthen muscles are good preventive methods. This also includes adjusting the work environment, such as adjusting the level of the computer screen, the height of the desk and the chair we sit on, etc.
“The 10 – 20 – 60 principle”
One of the ways to prevent office syndrome is to change your work behavior by adhering to the principle of “10-20-60” that will help all working people not to encounter the villain of office syndrome again. The method is very easy: rest your eyes from the computer screen every 10 minutes, change your posture after working for 20 minutes, and stretch your muscles and arms, exercise your neck, shoulder blades, shoulders, arms, hands, waist, back, and legs after working for 60 minutes. If anyone is wondering if it really helps, you have to try it.
Secret tips that can actually be used
Another not-so-secret tip that the admin would like to offer to office workers like us who sit in front of a computer. Some people, after reading about the correct way to sit at work, may feel that it is too difficult to change their sitting behavior because sometimes our bodies do it automatically out of habit. So the admin thinks that this is a great helper.
Bewell Ergonomic Chair, EMBRACE and CUDDLE models , which Bewell truly cares about adjusting your working behavior. You can sit and work comfortably as you want while still having good health because Bewell’s chair is designed according to ergonomic principles, helping you sit and work in the correct and appropriate position with a 90-degree upright backrest mode, 4D armrests that support all sitting positions, adjustable backrest resistance settings, guaranteed quality for up to 3 full years, free shipping nationwide with video clips to teach you how to use it, and also includes instructions for use by expert physical therapists.
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Source:
Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders (WMSDs)
Office Syndrome: Is it dangerous? And how to treat it?
Office Syndrome: A Disease That Office Workers Need to Know About
How to treat “Office Syndrome”, a common disease among working-age people
