Help To Reduce Neck and Back Pain With Good Office Ergonomics

Shari, our spinal specialist physio, writes:

Many of my patients spend long hours working at their computer and poor desk set-up/ergonomics can lead to pain in our joints. I see a lot of patients in particular with neck, lower back and upper back pain exacerbated by poor office ergonomics.

I always recommend my patients have a thorough assessment of their work station by a specialist ergonomics physiotherapist or occupational therapist, but I have provided a few pointers below that may assist:

• Take micro-breaks: every 20 minutes you should take a break and complete 20 seconds of micro movements. This could be shrugging the shoulders back, rotating your upper back from side to side, turning your neck side to side etc.

• Your mouse and keyboard should be at the same height (elbow height) with your elbows close to the sides of your body ideally at 90 degrees. Make sure your mouse and keyboard aren’t too far away.

• Your wrists should be kept in a neutral position.

• You should work as close to the centre of our body as possible, i.e. not turned to one side.

• Any documents should be placed at the same height as your computer screen - try using a document holder.

• Allow your eyes to take a break from your screen by exercising them! Do this by focusing on objects in the distance regularly when you take a break from staring at your computer screen.

• Your head should be straight, shoulders relaxed, and your line of vision should be at the top third of your screen.

• Your chair should support a neutral posture and provide sufficient support for the length of the spine. Your bottom should be back in the chair and contact should also be maintained at the level of shoulder blades.

• Lumbar support such as an adjustable lumbar roll will help you maintain good spinal posture.

• Your knees should be bent at 90 degrees and not touch the under side of your work surface or the seat edge.

• Your feet should be flat on the floor and if they aren’t a foot stool is needed.

• Use a head set instead of a handheld phone. Handheld devices should be used only for short durations with the upper limb supported, which will reduce the strain through the neck.

• Handheld devices (phones, iPads, Kindles etc) should be held at eye level so to prevent strain on your neck from looking down for long periods.

• Your office should be well lit and well ventilated, with no glare from lights or windows on your screens.

• You should be able to manoeuvre yourself in/out of your desk chair without space restrictions or obstructions.

• Monitors should be centred on your desk.

• Stand hourly at a minimum.

• If you stand for prolonged periods, this also causes fatigue and your arms are not supported, so standing desks are not necessarily better than sitting desks in general which is evidence based supported. The key is taking regular breaks from static postures.

• If you use a laptop a separate mouse and keyboard should be used so that your arms are supported and your elbows bent at 90 degrees, and your laptop should be placed at a height such that your eye level when your head is straight is at the top third of the screen.

If your office set up is a pain in the neck (literally!), get in touch with us to see how we can help you.

Words by Shari Randall.