One of the most prolific stresses on our spines in our modern day lives is our posture at work, especially for those that have desk jobs. We sit at our desks for 8 hours a day 5 days a week, sometimes even more.
Ideally our bodies would be mostly standing and moving around throughout the day. If we must sit then it is best to sit up nice and straight. This means that we sit with our feet touching the floor, our knees bent to 90 degrees, hips bent to 90 degrees, elbows at side and at 90 degrees.
The set-up of your desk is also vitally important to the stress that you put on your body. The middle of your screen should ideally be at eye height to ensure that your head is not bent forward, the keyboard at elbow height to avoid strain on your shoulders. For most people this means that the chair needs to be raised, or the keyboard lowered and the screen needs to be quite a bit higher. You may also need a foot rest to ensure that your feet still rest flat on the floor.
This advice can be hard to follow if you are a laptop user. If you use your laptop, get a spare keyboard for when you are in the office. Put the keyboard at the appropriate height and use the laptop as the screen. Elevate it on some phone books or a stand so that it is at the correct height.
Follow these simple tips and you are off to a great start to create a stress free workplace.
Dr Brett Hill's top 5 tips for setting up your work station
1. Sit up straight with your knees hips and elbows at 90 degrees
2. Lift your screen up to eye level
3. If you use a laptop get an extra keyboard so that you can lift the screen
4. Get up and move every 20 minutes, even if you only stand up and move for a few seconds
5. Get an expert to come in and asses your work station
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