Sciatica affects up to 40 percent of adults in the USA. And unfortunately, a large number of these individuals are working from home, which often requires long hours of sitting down. Upper cervical chiropractic doctors have noted that many WFH professionals have worse sciatica symptoms due to their work.
Remote workers report increased painful sensations and frequent flareups, primarily because of the sedentary lifestyle and poor quality work equipment. If you’re struggling with the same issue, our guide below would be extra helpful for you.
It covers topics such as how to sit to reduce your pain, the best sciatica exercises for people with desk jobs, and the different remedies you can explore to alleviate your sciatica symptoms.
How to Sit When You Have Sciatica
When you have sciatica, you can expect to experience worse bouts of pain when you sit for long hours. One way you can get around this problem is to make a few adjustments to how you sit.
Start by sitting straight with your back resting on the chair and your feet on the floor. As much as possible, you should also avoid slouching, crossing your legs, or placing your entire weight on one side of the body.
If you sit in a swivel chair, avoid twisting your body when you move the chair. Instead, we suggest pushing with your two feet and letting the wheels move the chair. This allows you to minimize strain on your back and neck.
Also, we highly advise taking short breaks in between your shift. You can try doing a few sciatica exercises to ease your aching body and relax your nerves.
Sciatica Exercises for WFH Employees
Undoubtedly, the global pandemic has caused a significant shift in how office workers do their job. Some end up spending long hours to complete their work shift. Others also noticed an increased occurrence of painful symptoms like radiating pain on their backs due to the lack of ergonomic work setup.
As a result, upper cervical chiropractic doctors have seen a steady rise in the number of individuals seeking chiropractic care to experience relief from their back pains. Plenty of individuals also rely on home remedies like doing simple sciatica exercises to cope.
Some examples of these exercises include the following:
- Curl ups
- Superman stretching
- Planking
- Side plank
- Hip raises
- Piriformis stretch
You might find these helpful in restoring your body’s agility and flexibility. We suggest doing these exercises for a few minutes each day. Ideally, it would help if you do them during your 10 or 15-minute break.
Other Sciatica Remedies for WFH Professionals
Apart from exercising, you can also tap into other well-known remedies for sciatica. Some examples of these include:
Using heat and cold therapy
A cold compress or ice pack helps deal with muscle soreness, while heat from a hot compress or a hot bath promotes blood flow to encourage faster healing of the damaged tissues.
Taking anti-inflammatory drugs
OTC pain medications like Advil or Aleve might come in handy in alleviating your pain for a few hours. However, make sure to take them according to the instructions and avoid taking them excessively. This way, you can fully maximize their benefits.
Working on your sleeping habits
Lack of sleep can lead to increased pain sensitivity. It can also impact your mood, making it even harder to cope with the different sciatica symptoms. Therefore, we highly recommend practicing some common techniques to improve your sleep, including:
- Adjusting the height of your knees using your pillows
- Switching to a firmer mattress
- Placing a pillow in between your legs to relieve pressure on the spine
- Adjusting the lights so you can quickly fall asleep
Avoiding products that trigger inflammation
Reducing your risk for inflammation can make a significant difference in your life, primarily if you work from home and have sciatica.
To do that, we recommend steering clear from food products that trigger an inflammatory response. Some notable examples of these products include:
- Sugary treats (sports drink, store-bought fruit juices, pre-made soup, canned fruits, and cereal bars)
- Refined carbohydrates (bagels, breakfast cereals, pastries, and white bread)
- Cured or processed meat (bacon, ham, pepperoni, chorizo, and pastrami)
- Alcoholic beverages
Experiencing Long-term Relief with Upper Cervical Chiropractic
Sciatica comes and goes in waves. And unfortunately, it tends to affect individuals for long years. Thankfully though, patients nowadays can tap into effective remedies that can provide lasting effects. One example of that is upper cervical chiropractic.
When sciatica exercises are no longer enough to provide you with the relief you need, you can turn to upper cervical chiropractic. It’s among the leading remedies that patients use to reduce the radiating pain they experience on their hips, butt, and limbs.
It focuses on the neck, a critical part of the body that protects several nerves and the brainstem. The process involves making a few gentle adjustments to correct misalignments along the neck – a common issue that arises due to poor posture, neck trauma, or injuries.
If you’ve noticed increased fibromyalgia flareups since you started working from home or spending long hours in front of your desk, you can consult with a neck chiropractor.
Using advanced digital imaging techniques, your neck chiropractor can provide a detailed assessment of your cervical bone misalignment concern.
Find out if you have a neck misalignment and start getting upper cervical chiropractic adjustments. You can get in touch with a nearby upper cervical doctor for help today.
to schedule a consultation today.