Rising incidence of musculoskeletal discomfort in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the shutdown of much of the world’s economic and social operations. Given shutdown of exercise facilities, there has been a sharp uptick in a sedentary lifestyle. As people have lost their normal daily activity patterns, it is reasonable to assume that musculoskeletal pain-related syndromes will consequently begin to increase. In addition, there has been a rise in social network, television, and online home-based workouts. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is unclear whether previous recommendations for physical activities will remain sufficient, given cessation of normal physical activities from day-to-day life. We raise a variety of questions in dealing with the potential fallout of the COVID-19 shutdown from a musculoskeletal standpoint.