Your work becoming a pain?

By seeing your chiropractor you are maintaining the health of your spine. However the success of the structural and neurological (nerve) changes that your chiropractor has caused may be effected by how you treat your spine in day-to-day activities. Unfortunately for most of us,  this involves work. With the increasing reliance on computures, it is important that the rapidly growing "office bound" section of the workforce has a good posture and correct work station set-up (ergonomics) to help maintain correct spinal health. Incorrect work posture and office set-up may decrease your ability to maintain correct spinal alignment and may put you risk of developing other serious problems.

The repetitive nature of office work can result  in an accumulation of stresses building up over a period of months or even years until such time  as a relatively minor incident is suffucient to cause symptoms of pain, stiffeness, numbness or pins and needles. These problems tend to take more time to correct because they have developed over a long period of time. Arthritic and other degenerative changes can also influence how quickly the chiropractor is able to help an individual remove theses symptoms.

Tips to make your workstation more ergonomic

Typing material should be in an upright document holder at the level of the monitor and moved from side to side on a regular basis to avoid prolonged neck muscle contraction

Knees should be lower than the hips an adjustable seat is ideal for this.This allows adequate space between the desk and the thighs to allow unrestrained movement

The best sitting posture maintains the "lumbar lordosis" (lowerback reverse "C" curve) which helps distribute weight effectively. A lumbar support or roled up towel placed into the small of your back is ideal for maintaining this curve.

When using a keyboard the forearms should be parallel to the floor and the elbows not foward of the belly button this will prevent repetitive wrist injuries.

The mid and upper back should be maintained in an upright position, avoiding the slouching of the shoulders.

The top of the computer screen should be at eye level

Air conditioners should not be blowing onto the neck or shoulders because this can cause the muscles to become cold and subsequently tight.

Every 20-30 min take a micro break, this only needs to be around 30 sec, you should get up and move around in this break.

Feet should always be resting on a stable flat surface or incline

Office seats should idealy swivel with the seat height and back rest adjustible

Office desks should be large enough to allow room either side of the keyboard for mouse documents etc.

http://www.ergonomics.com.au/index.htm