Correct posture and a comfortable seating arrangement are of vital importance when working at a desk, and yet so many people are unaware of how their seating choices affect their health.
Pain in the lumbar spine, hips, and legs are unfortunately all too common among desk workers. However, with just a few simple adjustments, you can help relieve this pain and avert any future discomfort.
One such adjustment for you to try would be to employ the use of an under foot desk rest!
What Are the Benefits of Under Foot Desk Rests?
The benefits of an ergonomic foot rest depend on the person using them, their body type, and the health issues they have experienced before. That being said, here are a few of the most common benefits to be found.
Easing Pain By Improving Posture And Blood Circulation
Overall, foot rests improve blood circulation and drastically improve posture, allowing your body to naturally settle in the state it’s meant to. This refinement in posture is especially beneficial for lower back pain and preventing varicose veins. Many of us are working from home offices these days, which can bring its own set of challenges.
Pain itself is hard to avoid and alleviate because once you attain pain in one area, you tend to overcompensate in others, thus creating another problem area that will be painful in the future. By helping lower back pain, you can stop a vicious cycle of discomfort by fending off upper back pain, which in turn intercepts pain in the shoulders, neck, and even hips.
Keeping Your Body Actively Engaged
Another benefit of under foot desk rests is that they discourage staying still for too long. Staying still for too long has long been an issue for desk workers and is a major cause of back pain and circulation issues, even blood clots. That's why height adjustable standing desks have become so popular in recent years, but not everyone wants to invest in a new piece of furniture.
Fortunately, Everlasting Comfort’s under foot desk rest’s teardrop shape constantly keeps the feet, ankles, and legs moving slightly while you sit when you flip it, making it much more effective than a standard footstool. This active sitting movement isn’t enough to distract you, and in all likelihood, you won’t even notice it, but it’s enough to help with blood circulation and remind you to get up once in a while for a full-body alignment reset.
Comfort
Putting aside the numerous health benefits of foot rest cushions, they’re also exceptionally comfortable! The ergonomic tilt-adjustable footrest puts your feet and legs at the perfect angle for all-day comfort.
Resting your feet on 100% high-quality memory foam is a pleasure, especially when sitting at a desk all day. At the very least, it’s certainly more comfortable than a cold, hard floor for long periods of time. Why not forgo the leg and back strain and choose comfort instead with this high-density foam footrest?
Better yet, the non-slip bottom ensures that this foot rest won't move while you're trying to get work done. The removable cover (even with the non-slip surface) is machine-washable, so you don't have to worry about your shoes getting your foot rocker dirty.
How Should You Be Sitting?
The science of sitting has been boiled down to a few main points.
One, your hips should always be slightly higher than your knees as you sit. It should not be a 90-degree angle and will likely be a cause of lower back pain if it is.
Next, your feet should be able to rest comfortably flat on the floor. If they don’t, using a foot rest under desks or adjusting your chair needs to be your next step in order to avoid hip, leg, and back strain.
Although your hips and knees should not be at a 90-degree angle, your elbows should be. This allows for perfect comfortability when typing and prevents pinched nerves and stiff muscles.
Lastly, your back and neck should always be straight, with your shoulders pulled back. Hunching is an ally for back pain and should be avoided as much as possible. To this end, try and keep your most-used objects on your desk within easy reach.
Who Should Use An Under Foot Desk Rest?
Everyone’s health can benefit from using comfortable foot rests, but there are some who might find them especially helpful!
People Of Short To Average Height
Desks and chairs are more commonly built for those of an average to slightly taller than average height and frame. There are other office chairs you can buy, of course, but why buy an entirely new chair when you can achieve the same result with an office foot rest and also gain other health benefits?
Simply placing the under foot desk rest under your feet can automatically help circulation, relieve current pain, and avert future issues related to imbalances in posture.
Kids
It is of vital importance to instill practicing healthy habits in young children. Everyone should be practicing healthy habits, but children are still growing and are therefore more at risk of creating an imbalance that has a harder time being fixed in the future, as it has become a physical part of them or a bad habit.
Kids should be using under foot desk rests to understand the importance of good posture. They are shorter than most adults, and their feet will dangle off of the ground for many years, cutting off proper blood circulation and encouraging bad posturing habits.
People Who Wear Heels
Heels are for everyone, and so is comfort! Unfortunately, wearing heels means that, at times, your feet will have some painful moments. Wearing heels means needing to take little breaks off of your feet to rest.
Luckily, our Foot Rest Pillow works for heels of all kinds. It’s 100% memory foam padding, and teardrop design relieves pressure off of your feet by correcting weight distribution and maintaining proper posture. Your feet won’t worry about painful days at a desk anymore!
Anyone And Everyone!
Under foot desk rests, although especially beneficial for the people listed above, can be helpful for everyone.
Everybody can benefit from the supportive boost in blood circulation as well as the reminder to not sit statically for so long. Additionally, the comfort it can bring to a workspace can inspire you to make other upgrades to boost your physical and mental health along the way.
Is There A Downside To Under Foot Desk Rests?
Since under foot desk rests especially cater to clientele of shorter to average heights, taller people may be unsure of how the pillows can help them or even how to use them.
Of course, there are still benefits for tall people in that the under foot desk rests discourage sitting still for too long, therefore promoting being more active and helping blood circulation. It can also be comfortable and relaxing when you need to lean back and take a small break.
However, people with very tall proportions must keep proper sitting technique in mind. This is because since their legs are already so long, footrests can occasionally disrupt practicing correct posture. This can then lead to lower back pain, which we want to put a stop to. To bypass this, check the height of your desk and chair before looking into footrests if the height of either can be adjusted for your comfort.
What Should Your Work Area Look Like?
A workstation should promote the wellbeing of mental and physical health as much as possible. To that end, your chair must be suited to your height as much as it can, and it should be padded.
The need for padding is not purely out of a desire for comfort, it can also help prevent long-lasting pain that comes from being seated and static for too long. Pads that allow for hips to be slightly higher than knees are especially beneficial, as well as pads that can help the curvature of your spine and under foot desk rests to help with leg and back strain.
Your desk should allow room for your knees, but also be a height that doesn’t have you hunching forward trying to reach your computer or task uncomfortably. All objects on the desk that are used often should be within easy reach to also prevent hunching and leaning forward too much.
Computers or laptops should be directly in front of you with the screen at eye level, or a bit below, with the keyboard easily within arms length. If you’re having trouble with getting the screen to that point, you can always prop up your laptop or monitor using something sturdy to gain that elevation.
Surrounding yourself with things that aren’t distracting but promote a sense of relaxation and happiness can be exceptionally beneficial. One such option for your work area is including the use of an essential oil diffuser. The diffuser distributes essential oils in a thin mist to help aid your mental and physical wellbeing, soothing your immune and respiratory systems as well as calming emotions and relieving tensions.
Summary
Under foot desk rests are an easy and comfortable way to help ease current pain and protect against future health issues related to sitting at desks. The best foot rests come from Everlasting Comfort and make use of a non-skid bottom and innovative teardrop shape that gives you the ideal tilt angle for comfort. Keeping a pleasant office space can not only be a significant aid in assisting health concerns, but it can also elevate your enjoyment as you work, thus increasing productivity.
Sources:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/in-depth/office-ergonomics/art-20046169
http://www.bu.edu/articles/2020/10-ergonomics-dos-and-donts-for-those-now-working-from-home/
Leave a comment