CALGARY -- Baking a loaf of sourdough bread or spending hours in meetings on Zoom is taking toll on many people’s health during the pandemic by leading to injuries.
A Calgary emergency room doctor said before the pandemic about 35 per cent of injuries came from sports, 13 per cent at work, and 15 per cent from around the home, but that changed when people started staying home a lot more in March.
“The types of injuries we’re seeing are the ones that are coming from around the house,” said Dr. Raj Bhardwaj.
“The most common place to hurt yourself around the house is the kitchen.”
Cuts, punctures and burns from the kitchen and also home renovations have seemed more prevalent. Dr. Bhardwaj says the data is still being compiled.
He recommends using caution and the proper tools.
“A sharp knife will require less force and you’ll be able to do things a little more safely,” he said, adding there are online videos to help with that too.
More time spent looking at screens and poor home office ergonomics have also plagued many people during the pandemic.
“Their neck is forward, their shoulders are rounded, so it creates a lot of problems,” explained Andrea Dowd, athletic therapist with Precision Sports Therapy.
During the COVID-19 outbreak, she has been unable to meet clients at her office so has been providing one-on-one sessions as well as posting videos online for anyone to access.
Stretching and strengthening has been important to help people who now have more time for physical activity as well.
“Nobody works the glutes and the glutes are the stabilizers of the hips,” she said explaining people seem to be running and biking more and need to ease into higher levels of activity.
