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How to work from home comfortably

While many people are working from home due to COVID-19, experts say you should be getting up at least once an hour to stretch.

BANGOR, Maine — Many of us are working from home in make-shift home offices due to the coronavirus.

Some people sitting on couches, wooden kitchen chairs, or even in bed.

Maine physical therapists are offering tips to reduce any potential pain working from home can cause.

Experts say you should get up and walk around for a few minutes every hour and stretch.

They also say you should make your work environment as similar to the one you have in the office.

"Set yourself up with your monitor directly in front of you and your monitor should be directly in front of you so if you have to build that monitor up with some books you have lying around the house you can do that. And your feet should be flat on the floor," Michael Moras from Back in Motion Physical Therapy said.

He added people should avoid sitting, "for hours on end on a hard kitchen chair."

On the Back in Motion Facebook page, physical therapists offer stretches for anyone to try at home.

Physical therapy has been deemed an essential service and can remain open while many other businesses close down. But physical therapists are also trying to take their work online.

Just last week, the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced it would now reimburse for not just regular visits but physical therapy 'e-visits'. That makes it more likely that physical therapy will become virtual therapy.

"I'm still currently doing research on you know one definition of a patient portal... if there's exemptions for that, things of that nature," Dr. Brad Libby from Performance PT said.

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