Blog article

Most of us use a computer sometime during the day. How do you sit at the computer?

a) Slumped back into the seat;
b) neck forward, sitting at the front of the chair with shoulders up to the ears;
c) leaning to one side, the mouse side? 

The slumped posture will cause you lower back pain; the neck forward posture will give you neck, shoulder and mid back problems plus carpel tunnel syndrome; and leaning to one side will cause tight muscles on one side of the back and lengthened muscles on the other side. This will cause mid and lower back pain. So what can you do about it? 

• Sit evenly on your sit bones, those bony protuberances you can feel in your buttocks and do not slump.
• Move! Have breaks, do not be tied to your computer all day. Stretch the body.
• Keep your head over the top of your neck, not in front of the neck. This prevents neck strain. For every 2.5 cm forward this adds 4.5kg of weight the neck muscles must carry!
• Sit back into your seat not on the edge of it. This protects your back muscles.
• Legs need to be firmly planted on the ground with thighs at a 90 degree angle to the lower leg and arms at a 90 degree angle to the body, hands level with the keyboard or keyboard slightly lower. If you are short, put a board under the legs to take the strain off the lower back.

If you want some guidance on your posture, some exercises to do or some massage to help these muscles come and see me.

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