Office Worker Ailments: 7 Common Health Problems

Last Updated on February 24, 2024 by Joshua Isibor

The daily routine of engaging in busy tasks while maintaining a fixed posture can lead to various health challenges for individuals working in office settings.

Muscles and nerves that often feel tense all the time, feeling tired, eating late, and experiencing mental pressure have become everyday things for most employees. These things trigger the occurrence of various diseases that slowly begin to appear and affect your whole well-being. 

After all,  working all day in the office and sitting in front of a laptop from morning to noon can cause many diseases. To know of the common office-related ailments that may threaten you in the future, you can check out the below! 

1. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

The most common disease of office workers is Carpa Tunnel Syndrome mostly known as CPS. This disease is often caused by people who constantly use a mouse and bend their hands to type for hours or long periods. 

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is characterized by pain, tingling, soreness, and numbness that can be felt on the hands. If your hands start to feel any of the things above, as soon as possible you need to try to relax or rest your wrists. You can also compress your wrists using warm water at night to make them more relaxed for the next day.

2. Sore eyes

Apart from CPS, a disease that office people often experience when they face the computer screen is eye disease. Eye diseases that occur can vary, ranging from sore, and tense, to dry and watery eyes.

To prevent this issue from happening, you can try to place the computer at a distance of 55-66 cm from the eye so that the effect can be minimized. You need to also rest your eyes for 20 seconds after working for 20 minutes. During these 20 seconds, focus your gaze on a point approximately 20 feet away. This practice can really help you to relax your eyes.

2.Back pain

Back pain experienced by office workers can occur due to being in a sitting position for too long. You might feel the pain start from the lower back. The pain might be mild at first, but without proper care, it might turn to excessive soreness.

Not only due to a sitting position, if you stand for too long without taking a break it can also cause back pain. As a precaution, try to stand up occasionally and stretch your body joints. To treat this issue, you can try to compress the back of your back with a towel soaked in warm water.

3. Digestive problems

Piling up work accompanied by deadlines might be the ultimate reason why you often have to neglect lunchtime constantly. But do keep in mind that often skipping lunch will harm your stomach eventually. Digestive ailments that can be suffered by office workers include stomach ulcers, GERD, and digestive infections.

To overcome this, it is a must for you to eat on time! If it’s not possible to buy food outside the office, you can order delivery to the office or eat a snack bar made from oats or wheat to keep hunger at bay so your stomach isn’t empty.

4.Stress

Stress can occur due to lots of unresolved office work. Not to mention the demands from superiors regarding the work might cause you anxiety as well. If you are starting to get stressed, try taking a deep breath and doing relaxation techniques that can be done while sitting to calm your mind.

Prolonged stress which is often experienced by someone will not only affect their mental health, but constant stress can also cause digestive problems – relating to the above-mentioned.

5.Pulmonary nodule

Pulmonary nodules or lung spots usually occur in office workers because there is no proper air circulation in the office. This is what makes most people susceptible to viruses and bacteria. Even though the office room uses air conditioning, every day the office window must be opened and closed so that the air inside can change with the air outside.

This ailment is characterized by symptoms of coughing for days to a decrease in physical condition. If left alone, these lung spots can develop into lung disease to tuberculosis which can certainly harm the body.

6.Obesity

Obesity or being overweight is also experienced by many office people. This office worker’s disease can be caused by many factors.  Starting from poor eating habits, often eating fast food, to not moving enough because of being in a sitting position for too long while working. Most office workers’ illnesses are caused by an imbalance between the calorie intake that enters the body and what is excreted by the body because most office workers rarely move. 

These are among the prevalent health concerns for office workers. To mitigate these issues, employees should adopt a healthier diet and lifestyle. It is also advisable for employees to transform their working space with ergonomic office gear to ensure they can have the physical support to protect their bodies at work.

ALSO, READ How to Take Your Healthcare Career to a New Level

Originally posted 2023-09-11 21:59:21.