[Self-Reliance Is the Answer] No commute, even less movement... A red flag for back health in the work-from-home era

[Financial News] Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of companies implementing remote work has increased markedly. The biggest advantage of working from home is being free from the daily commute. You no longer have to take crowded subways or buses, or rush out of the house every morning. But there is something else that disappears along with the commute: the time spent moving naturally throughout the day.
Recently, researchers at the University of Turku in Finland compared the daily physical activity of 97 university employees who alternated between working in the office and working from home, looking at how it varied by work location. For seven days, participants wore sensors on their thighs to measure their daily movements, including sitting, standing and walking.
The results showed a clear difference between office and home-working days. On work-from-home days, participants did an average of 37 fewer minutes of light physical activity than on office days, and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity also fell by 21 minutes. In other words, the time they spent moving during the day fell by nearly an hour. By contrast, time spent sitting increased by 44 minutes, and time spent in bed increased by 14 minutes.
When working from home, it is easy to do everything in one place, from video meetings to meals, and the area in which people move around is often limited to little more than a bedroom and living room. In an office, by contrast, movement naturally adds up as people walk, take the stairs or go to another department.
Brief periods of movement can have a greater effect on our bodies than we might expect. A study by researchers at Mahidol University in Thailand, published in the international journal Journal of Health Science and Medical Research, confirmed this. When office workers were asked to do simple exercises for five minutes every hour, neck discomfort decreased significantly, while discomfort in the shoulders and lower back also showed improvement. The findings suggest that making a habit of moving around briefly throughout the day, rather than staying in one position for long periods, may help reduce musculoskeletal discomfort.
However, people working from home often end up working in spaces not suited for the task, such as beds or sofas. When reduced movement is added to poor posture that strains the musculoskeletal system, the time spent using the muscles around the lower back also decreases. So if your back usually feels fine but becomes stiff or develops a dull ache when you get up from your seat, it may be worth first reviewing your work environment and daily activity level.
If back pain keeps recurring or does not ease easily, it is also important to seek appropriate treatment. In traditional Korean medicine, acupuncture and Chuna therapy are among the treatments used for lower back pain. Chuna therapy is a hands-on treatment in which a Korean medicine doctor uses their hands or other parts of the body to push and pull a patient’s joints and muscles, helping restore the function of the spine and surrounding tissues.
In a multicenter randomized controlled trial involving researchers from Jaseng Hospital of Korean Medicine, 194 patients with non-acute lower back pain were divided into two groups: one received Chuna therapy alongside usual care, and the other received usual care alone. They were treated for six weeks, and the results were compared. Seven weeks after treatment began, the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) score for lower back pain had fallen by an average of 3.02 points in the group receiving Chuna therapy in addition to usual care, compared with 1.36 points in the usual-care group. The group receiving Chuna therapy also showed greater improvement on the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), which assesses how much back pain interferes with daily life.
There is no need to give up the convenience of working from home. But with the commute gone, it is important to consciously make up for the “movement” that commuting and office life used to provide. During the workday, make a habit of getting up and moving around from time to time, and changing positions frequently so you do not stay in one posture for too long.
/Ulsan Jaseng Hospital of Korean Medicine Director Kim Yeong-ik






 


[email protected] Jeong Myeong-jin, Medical Correspondent Reporter