Office workers spend an average of 77% of their working day sitting (Stand up Australia,2009). Recently the phrase ‘sitting is the new smoking’ has been doing the rounds with a huge focus on sitting and its relationship to physical inactivity and obesity but sitting can more effects than just obesity. The act of sitting for prolonged periods with poor posture can have the ability to impact various aspects of your health especially the health of your neck and back. Sitting at work is not the only culprit. Look around you next time you’re on public transport – how many of us are spending our time looking down at our phones!
Poor posture throughout the day has the potential to lead to many negative side effects. When sitting with poor posture you can increase the pressure going through the spine by 30%. When you sit in any position for prolonged periods, over time changes will start to occur in your muscle and ligaments. An imperfect relationship then starts to develop among various skeletal structures of the body. This can start to put strain on the body’s supporting framework and any limit, imbalance or misalignment of the musculoskeletal structures will have an adverse effect on the efficiency of movement. Dr. Adalbert I. Kapandji suggests that for every inch that your head moves forward in relation to your spine it increases the load through the joints by as much as 10 pounds!
Some of the side effects off poor posture include:
- Neck Pain
- Headaches
- Jaw pain
- Eye fatigue
- Upper & Lower back pain
- Decreased Lung Capacity
- Changes in mood
Strategies to improve posture:
1. Get up and move around instead of sending that email to the person in the office next to you get up and have a chat to them. A pedometer is also a good motivator. Try to aim for 10,000 steps per day.
2. Avoid Forward-head Posture by keeping your ears in line with your shoulders.
3. Avoid Slouching – imagine a torch as attached to your sternum, and that torch should be shining forward at all times.
4. Get your eyes checked-many of us are subconsciously leaning forward to see the screen secondary to poor vision.
But, overall good posture should feel effortless it does not involve sitting up as tall as possible throwing your shoulders back and puffing out your chest. You should listen to your body. If it feels uncomfortable it is not a good posture to be sitting in. In many cases while at work you can easily be distracted by a nagging boss or tight deadlines and forget that you are starting to notice your neck or back is getting sore. It is important to get into a regular habit of listening to what your body is telling you, if you feel tension or fatigue in your muscles change positions!
If you are finding yourself with regular headaches or persistent back or neck pain, contact Waverton Physio for a physiotherapy assessment.
Next article will include all the tricks for your ideal workstation setup for work!