Most of us spend more time at the office than we do at home, which is why it’s so important to consider how our behavior at the office can affect how we feel at home. If you sit at your computer for several hours each day, are you sitting pretty?
Before you look at yourself in the mirror, reflect on your desk and workspace. Specifically, says Alan Zovar, a physical therapist that works at Dandelion Dreams, Inc., (aPhysiquality partner), you should think about the angles in your body as they interact with your desk. Your eyes should be approximately 18 inches away from your computer screen, he says, and they should align with the middle of the screen, to avoid looking down or up too much, which could cause neck strain in the long run. In the same manner, your chair should be centered with the monitor to minimize twisting the head in order to see the screen.
Take a look at your chair now, and how you sit in it. Adjust the chair’s height in order to be able to rest your elbows at about a 90-degree angle on your desk; if the chair’s arms get in the way, it’s probably better to remove them, Alan notes.
Your forearms should be parallel to your desk and your wrists should be as flat as possible. Alan suggests using mouse and keyboard supports to maintain this posture. And your knees should also be bent at a 90-degree angle. If your feet don’t reach the floor, you can use a foot support in order to properly support the weight of your legs.
Once your desk is properly set up, you can think about your sitting posture. Lumbar support is essential to support the back and reduce back strain. If your office chair is not supportive enough, you can purchase a back support like the Kiss My Back! support from Dandelion Dreams, Inc. The back support will reinforce the natural curve of the lumbar spine. In turn, this straightens the neck, shoulders and upper back. When you’re sitting at your desk, your torso, neck and head should all be upright, without any slouching or straining.
Other office behaviors are just as important, reminds Richard Baudry, a physical therapist and the founder of Baudry Therapy Center, a Physiquality member in the New Orleans area. He cautions workers to keep their desk — and the space underneath it — clear of clutter, in order to enable easy movement around your workstation. Frequent phone users should use a headset to avoid balancing the phone between their shoulder and ear, which can create neck and back pain. And frequent movement is key — stand up once an hour to stretch your back or take a walk to the building cafeteria to grab a drink.
If you’re concerned about your workspace, use this OSHA worksheet to evaluate how your desk is set up. Or contact a physical therapist near you to evaluate your entire office, ensuring a healthier — and happier — team.
Tags: Computer, Ergonomics, Work Station
We’ve written in the past about a variety of causes for back pain: poor posture, improper ergonomics at the office, even straining to lift heavy items like a baby improperly. But did you know that stress can also cause back pain?
The experts at Physiquality partner Kiss My Back! point out that any stress — from the home, the office, or the family — decreases oxygen to potential areas of discomfort, like the neck, shoulders and back. If you have a pre-existing condition or a history of chronic pain, this can exacerbate the problem.
To make it worse, “when someone is experiencing back pain,” says Laureen Dubeau, “they often decrease their activity level,” which leads to weaker muscles and joints — and more pain. A certified strength and conditioning specialist and MERRITHEW™ Master Instructor Trainer specializing in STOTT PILATES®, another Physiquality partner, Laureen cautions against letting the deep stabilizing muscles of the spine to weaken. If these muscles stop working to stabilize the spine, she says, the larger, superficial muscles become tense and overworked, which increases the pain (even more) and restricts movement.
If your stress leads to postural changes, like hunched shoulders, this will add to your muscular tension throughout your back. And if you start to lose sleep because of the stress, not only will you be crankier during the day, but your body won’t have the chance to recuperate and heal overnight, leading to… tense muscles and more pain.
So how can you break this cycle of stress and pain? Your physical therapist is an excellent resource for the best methods. In addition, being mindful of what is causing the stress and how you are handling it is vital. Kiss My Back! reminds readers that a lot of stress is caused by lack of or miscommunication. Talk to your colleagues or your family about what is creating the stress, and discuss ways to reduce the problems that are causing it.
Making time for exercise can also reduce both stress and pain. Laureen notes that increased activity will strengthen the muscles that support your back, while producing endorphins and increasing oxygen flow in your body, reducing pain in your back and elsewhere. Using a mind-body exercise like Pilates or yoga can also allow you to strengthen your internal focus on your body. This calms the mind, which improves your ability to deal with stress. In addition, she says, “the focus in Pilates on restoring ideal posture and reducing the force on joints can help restore a sense of support and control.”
Physiquality partner PowerPlay points out how important it is to be aware of your environment. Pay attention to how your desk is laid out at work, and make sure that it’s ergonomically correct. If you sleep on your stomach, consider sleeping on your side or your back, as it’s better for your back muscles, or read through these tips from the Mayo Clinic on how to improve your sleep posture when you have back pain. You may also need a new mattress or one that is more firm; if you haven’t bought one in the last 10 years, it’s time to start shopping. And don’t forget to think about what you wear every day — supportive footwear and a bag that is worn cross-body vs. over one shoulder can affect your back muscles as well.
In the short term, cold therapy, or even cold + compression therapy, can help to relieve pain, reminds Shawn Hickling, a physical therapist assistant and the founder of ActiveWrap, another Physiquality partner. If the back muscles are spasming, heat therapy, or a combination of heat and ice, may be better. Over-the-counter anti-inflammatories, known as NSAIDs, may also help to relieve pain, but beware of using them over a long time due to their side effects.
Neck pain is a common and debilitating problem. While some cases can be caused by serious conditions, according to Gini Davis, a physical therapist and owner of Crescent City Physical Therapy (a Physiquality member in New Orleans), the most common cause of neck pain is poor posture. This can be due to a variety of reasons:
- Sitting and standing incorrectly.
While it’s easy to recognize when someone else is slouching, it’s much harder to correct the behavior in ourselves. As Kristina Holland noted in a previous Physiquality blog, “Good posture takes self-awareness and effort to maintain correct alignment, whereas poor posture is giving in to the constant pull of gravity.”
Gini points out that many people look down at their laptop/iPad/iPhone/other electronic gadgets with the head forward and down, putting strain on the back of the neck. In fact, a 2012 study found that 90% of the subjects texted with their necks flexed, or bent at more than 10 degrees. The author, Judith Gold, told Forbes last year that “the more the participants in her studies texted, the greater the chance that they would experience neck or shoulder pain.” (And texting doesn’t just cause neck pain; excessive texting has also been shown to cause pain in the wrists, fingers and thumbs.)
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As we age, our bodies are not as healthy as they were when we were younger. Muscles are slower to react. Joints are not as fluid as before. And bones are weaker than they were in our youth.
Osteoporosis is a bone disease most commonly found in older women, particularly those of Caucasian or Asian descent. Literally translated as “porous bone,” osteoporosis happens when bone density has decreased and the bones have become brittle. Unfortunately, the early symptoms of osteoporosis are easy to miss, like back pain or stooped posture. This is why most people don’t find out that they have the disease until they break a bone.
Your bones are constantly changing and creating new bone cells. When you’re younger and growing, your body creates more bone than it loses. This shifts as we reach our mid-20s, when our bodies slow down the process and we’ve reached our peak bone mass, or bone thickness.
By the time we’re in our 50s and 60s, the process has reversed, and we’re losing more bone cells than we’re producing. Read More
Take a look at your chair now, and how you sit in it. Adjust the chair’s height in order to be able to rest your elbows at about a 90-degree angle on your desk; if the chair’s arms get in the way, it’s probably better to remove them, Alan notes.
