If you’re like a lot of people, you’ll probably spend most of the day sitting at a table. This inactive behavior puts you at increased risk of spending long hours in poor posture, which can cause pain and discomfort.
Here are 5 simple tips to help your neck and back feel better at work.
- Practice a good position: When you sit at your table, place your feet on the floor and your back on a chair. Your head should be in a neutral position with your ears directly above your shoulders. To prevent the lower back from turning, which can also cause the head and shoulders to fall forward, adjust the height of the chair so that your legs can bend slightly. This position means that your weight is not well distributed by your sciatic bones, which lie at the bottom of your hip.
Adjust the height of the monitor and position the keyboard: Position the computer monitor directly in front of you so that the center of the screen is at the level of your nose. If the monitor is too low, turn your head down and increase the strain on your neck. If you are working on a laptop, use a secondary monitor if possible. Place the keyboard close together so that your elbows bend 90 degrees as you type. Place the keyboard high enough so that you do not have to lower your shoulders to reach for the keys.
- Stand more: Sitting in an office chair seems simple, but it can be fatiguing. The longer you sit, the harder it is to hold good posture. Each day, try to spend at least an hour or two on your feet that you would otherwise spend in a chair.
- Limit phone screen use: People are more likely to move their heads forward when looking at phones and tablets, especially if they use a touch screen for text or email. Maintaining the head position during long-term care of the device can cause painful muscle tension in the short term and can contribute to injury to the discs or joints in the long term.
- Walk around:
Walk around the office every half hour to reduce the risk of back, neck and / or shoulder pain by sitting. It can also help you get up and move when you start to feel that your pain or tension is developing. A quick way to do this is to set a silent alarm on your smartphone that runs every 30 minutes.
