The Right Way to Sit at the Office

We sit all day long in our office chairs and sometimes can end up with a sore back or bad posture. But experts’ assert there are right ways to sit in your office chair to ensure optimal wellbeing.

Office Chair

Dr. Pamela Leader, Doctor of Chiropractic andManaging Director of Chiropractic Dubai at Emirates European Medical Centre points out that Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) is the main problem associated with a poorly designed office chair and is caused by a repeated action or posture, leading to injury through strain. “Symptoms generally affect the lower or upper back, neck, shoulders, arms, hands and fingers,” she says and also sitting in awkward postures, working at poorly designed workstations, and performing manual actions over and over such as typing can all lead to repetitive strain injury. “The pain and disability incurred by these injuries builds up gradually and can sometimes even be permanent,” she says. “Most people using a poorly
designed office chair or working at an unsuitable workstation tend to start getting neck pain, shoulder pain, low back pain and sometimes headaches.”

Posture

Incorrect posture is another problem as Dr. Leader indicates that about 75 percent of patients coming into her clinic with neck and back pain have postural problems. “They may arise or become worse from an improper office chair or workstation and too much continual sitting,” she says. She says she has seen an increasing incidence of Forward Head Posture (FHP) which has become so common that looking around in a crowd you will see many people with their heads poked forward, but this posture is incorrect. “Our lifestyles have rapidly changed over the past 20 years; we are now spending many hours seated in front of computers, texting with our heads down and playing with hand held games,” she tells, and apart from looking unattractive, bad posture can also lead to back, neck and serious spinal problems later on in life because the muscles, ligaments and discs are under extra stress when the spine is not in proper alignment.

The Correct Way to Sit

If a person sits at a desk for long periods of time and they are getting neck or back pain then Dr. Leader says that there is a high possibility the ergonomics of the desk area is incorrect and/or that the user’s poor actions may be causing bad posture. She advises to firstly make sure the chair and desk area is ergonomically correct, adjustable,and are arranged to encourage the user to use the area in a way which encourages better posture. “The user should always sit up with their straight back resting on their chair, low back supported well,and with the neck and head aligned with the spine,” she says.The user should be looking straight ahead and the top of the computer screen should be at or below eye level to avoid bending the head or neck down/back.