KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A local chiropractor said she saw an increase in patients due to many still working from home and sitting in uncomfortable positions.
The pandemic effects are still wide-ranging, like on people's backs.
"I had closed my office for two weeks and immediately started getting calls from patients that were normal maintenance patients that didn't actually come in with pain, and all of the sudden they were coming in with a ton of pain," said Dr. Heather Bourdon, owner of Unbroken Chiropractic.
Bourdon is a chiropractor in the Crossroads. She said the pandemic is causing a strain on backs because of this one culprit.
"Low back pain, neck pain, hip pain, those are kind of the big ones that I was seeing, and I think it was due to poor work stations ergonomics," Bourdon said. "People were sitting at their kitchen countertops, or their couch or anywhere that was comfortable, that they could get some peace and quiet away from their kids, too."
The calls to her office didn't stop coming.
"I was really surprised of the increase in pain simply because they were sitting at home and not moving as often as possible," Bourdon said.
But, she said there are ways to help one's back and other parts of the body if they ache, things someone can do at home if they are unsure about coming into an office like hers — starting with a ball.
"Place the ball between the shoulder and the spine and just go up against the wall, take the arm across the body, add a little stretch and then just roll up and down," Bourdon said.
She shows in the video above several other moves to do at home. But her biggest takeaway is to stay active and get up as often as possible.
"Whether it's standing up during a phone call, I know people are using Zoom a lot more. If you have the opportunity to be walking around, go for a walk, try to have more moments throughout the day to get up and walk," Bourdon said. "Not just at the end of the day or on your lunch break. That's probably the best thing."
