Physical Therapy Corner: Office Ergonomics
The Problem: Do You Work on a Computer More Than Four Hours Per Day?
You can’t replace your spine, spine surgeries have poor results, and suffering with low back pain can affect your whole life. Developing a habit of good posture and ergonomics is essential for you.
Here are the facts:
- Prolonged sitting or standing causes pressure to build up in our spines, accelerating disk degeneration and leading to disk herniation. Disc pressure increases significantly with poor posture.
- Stress on the body due to poor posture leads to back, neck, and upper extremity pain.
- Prevention is by far the treatment of choice.
- A well-designed workstation and proper sitting postures are essential in reducing and preventing potential problems caused by the demands of today’s jobs.
The following guidelines suggest several ways to improve posture and ergonomics, especially for people who work sitting in an office chair for most of the day.
Ideal Office Ergonomics for a Laptop Station
Remember, Posture Is a Habit
The keys to changing a habit?
1. Identify your problem.
Do you sit a lot? Do you have back pain?
2. Fix the problem (set up your work-station).
A lot of employers provide free ergonomic assessments.
3. Set a cue to correct your problem.
Set a timer (start phones are great for this). Follow the 50-minute rule. For every 50 minutes you sit, take a quick break. During your break, walk around, stretch out your muscles (refer to stretches listed below), mingle with co-workers, get a drink, etc.
Workplace Tips
- Sitting posture while at your computer should be as follows: feet flat on floor, knees at 90 degree angle, back resting against back of chair with lumbar roll supporting spine, shoulders relaxed, elbows at 90 degree angle, and wrists in neutral position.
- Use telephone headsets to allow both hands to be free and to avoid bad neck postures.
- Try using glare protection screens.
- Get up often.
A Few Useful Office Stretches
Do not continue with the exercise if it causes any pain, numbness, and/or tingling!!!
If these symptoms occur, consult your physical therapist.
These should be performed, while standing as straight as possible, at least twice throughout your workday. Hold each stretch for 30 seconds.
Chin Tucks – Bend your head forward, so your chin touches your chest. Make a double chin with your head in the forward bent position. Hold for 5 seconds. You should feel a “stretch” in the back of your neck. Repeat 10 times.
Scapular Retraction – Keeping both your arms at your side, bend your elbows to 90 degrees. Squeeze your shoulder blades together. Hold for 10 seconds. Repeat 10 times.
Gentle Neck Stretching – The first important stretch is the “nose to armpit” stretch, hold for 30 seconds, repeat twice on each side. The second is the “ear to shoulder” stretch, hold for 30 seconds, repeat twice on each side.
Finally, get an ergonomic work station set-up for your work!
References:
Lis AM, Black KM, Korn H, Nordin M. Association between sitting and occupational LBP. Eur Spine J. 2007; 283-98.
Pope MH, Goh KL, Magnusson ML. Spine ergonomics. Annu Rev Biomed Eng. 2002;4:49-68.
