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Artists: Four Ways To Reduce Back & Neck Pain – Replay

Artists: Four Ways To Reduce Back & Neck Pain – Replay

REPRINT & UPDATE OF 2014 ARTICLE

Artists experience a great amount of eye, back, neck and shoulder strain as they tend to sit in fixed, sometimes uncomfortable positions over long periods of time (is this you??).

 Neck-Pain

Some sit this way purely out of habit and simply don’t realize the uncomfortable positions they are forcing their bodies to accommodate…

What can be done??

1.   Be aware of your work environment and pay attention to pain

 

Artists can be so engrossed in their work that they simply don’t realize where the pain points are until it’s painful (again, is this you??).  Pay attention to the position of your body, the location of your tools, the height of your chair, and your lighting when you start to notice strain. Sometimes just being aware of the sources of strain will help you make modifications and eliminate them when they arise. Be aware of adjusting your body to your equipment, versus adjusting your equipment to comfortable body position & posture.

2.  Sit up straight

HumanEvolution

Use an adjustable, ergonomic chair with adjustable lumbar support and armrests to support your back and the weight of your arms. You would be amazed at how much a chair with armrests helps reduce the stress on your shoulders. A minor adjustment to the height of your chair can make a world of a difference in your comfort. If you can see your work from this good posture position, terrific! If you find you still have to hunch over to see, there are some options to consider, starting with #3.

armrest drawing

 3.   Wear your complete prescription when working

magnifying eye glasses and light, magnifying eyeglasses and light

Use your proper prescription for comfortable, ergonomic working position. Click image.

Why?  Because your prescription allows you to see from a comfortable, ergonomic working distance.

Many nearsighted people take off their glasses to read or work. This means they typically have to hunch over to see. They often miss the connection between taking off their glasses to read and the resulting back and neck pain they get from hunching over. Many artists do this, or they take off their glasses and put on very strong readers. Can they see? Perhaps, but the price is often a lot of discomfort. Click the images below to read about how top artists relieved their stress:

Silversmith Peggy Houchin working at her jeweler's bench wearing CraftOptics Magnifying Eyeglasses and DreamBeam Light.

Click the image to see how silversmith Peggy Houchin uses her CraftOptics Magnifying Eyeglasses and DreamBeam Light.

 

CraftOptics Magnifying Eyeglasses & DreamBeam Light

Click image to read about award winning quilt artist Judy Beskow, and her CraftOptics experience.

Additional eyestrain can occur if you work without your vision corrected. Trying to work around your actual prescription typically leads to eyestrain and headaches. If you are wearing your prescription and still can’t see well or have to lean over to see, you are putting strain on your back, neck and probably your eyes. This is where CraftOptics can help solve that problem.

CraftOptics magnifying eyeglasses enable you to see great detail from a comfortable posture. You may have seen dentist and surgeons wearing similar devices, but may not have known similar devices are available for artists like you! Click any photo in this post for more information.

4.   Finally, use proper lighting

If you use the same light bulbs you used 20 years ago, it’s time to try some brighter bulbs. As we age, our requirement for light increases (see blog post here: YOU NEED MORE LIGHT). That task lamp that worked for you years ago is likely not bright enough for your work today. It may be forcing you to lean in to see, adding to back as well as eye strain.

CraftOptics Magnifying eyeglasses and light for artists

Standard studio light may not be bright enough anymore!

 

CraftOptics Magnifying Eyeglasses and attached DreamBeam Light (our WOW Package) helps creative people see amazing detail, eliminate eye strain, improve posture and work with precision and confidence.

Whether your passion is quilting, jewelry-making, beadwork, needlework, sewing, miniatures, woodwork or any fine detail activity, CraftOptics will help you take on those detailed projects you love. Questions? Give us a call at 888 444 7728 or learn more in our FAQ section here: FAQs