Without good posture, many of the daily tasks you perform during your workday can cause immediate and chronic health problems. This is especially true if your job requires you to sit at a desk for long periods performing repetitive actions such as typing. Understanding how posture affects your body and the problems poor posture can cause can make choosing and applying solutions easier and more effective. Good typing posture is important to reduce both dynamic and static loads you place on muscles. Dynamic load refers to the pressure you place on muscles during movement. This can include the movement of your arms, hands and fingers as you type, as well as head and neck movements. The relaxing and contracting that make up dynamic movements require a body position that allows for deeper breathing and sufficient blood flow to the active muscles. Static load refers to the pressure you place on inactive muscles, such as those in your back and shoulders. Poor posture, including slouching and incorrect arm and wrist position as well as the time you maintain an incorrect posture can produce a number of immediate effects.
Muscle and joint pain and fatigue are common effects. In addition, insufficient blood flow can cause a tingling sensation or loss of feeling. Chronic or long-term effects can include nerve injuries, especially in your wrists, aggravated high blood pressure, a reduction in muscle strength and muscle swelling. Good posture involves properly positioning both your chair and keyboard in a way that allows your feet to sit flat on the floor, your shoulder muscles to relax and your back to stay straight. The chair you use should support your lower back and have adjustable armrests that allow you to keep your arms close to your sides. In addition, the chair should be adjustable so you can set its height for correct foot placement, either flat on the floor or on a footrest. The position of your typing keyboard should require your elbows to bend at no more than a 90-degree angle, allow your arms to remain at your side and allow your wrists to remain in a neutral, or almost straight, position.
Try to refrain from adjusting your chair so it is in a reclining position. Although this may be a comfortable position for your back in the short-term, it increases pressure on your shoulders and neck. If your keyboard has a wrist pad, keep in mind you should not use this as a wrist support while typing, as a pad will cause bending in your wrist. If you have problems keeping your wrist straight, try adjusting the angle of your keyboard. Gain 2 pounds per week Gain 1.5 pounds per week Gain 1 pound per week Gain 0.5 pound per week Maintain my current weight Lose 0.5 pound per week Lose 1 pound per week Lose 1.5 pounds per week Lose 2 pounds per week Health Problems From Bad Posture Back Pain From Sitting at a Desk About Seat Cushions and Back Pain Back Problems Caused by Bad Posture While Sitting Negative Effects of Poor Posture Why Is Posture Important? Posture Exercises for Kids How to Lose Belly Fat While Sitting at a Desk
Arm Exercises With Weights While Sitting at Your Desk The Advantages of Good Posture How do I Lose Weight at a Desk Job? What Are the Causes of Bad Posture? 14 Exercises to Offset Sitting All Day How to Improve Your Posture While Driving How to Fix the Worst Posture Mistakes How to Put Your Body Back Into Alignment Exercises to Keep the Shoulders Pulled Back and Down The Best Posture or Shoulder Exercises for a Straight Back This page either does not exist or is currently unavailable.You can also search for something on our site below.J Hum Ergol (Tokyo). 1993 Dec;22(2):83-93.Ignatius YT1, Yee TY, Yan LT.Author information1Department of Community and Family Medicine, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T.AbstractA telephone interview was conducted to explore the occupational musculoskeletal problems and potential risk factors among typists in a government department. Of the 330 typists, 170 (51.5%) were interviewed; all of them were female with about 84% in their twenties and thirties.
Local fatigue and musculoskeletal pain were found to be quite prevalent among typists. More than 50% of the typists had local fatigue affecting the shoulders, neck, back and fingers (in order of decreasing frequency), and most of these occurred within 1-2 h of continuous typing. Among the musculoskeletal problems, low back pain was the most common (53%), followed by neck pain (50%), arm pain (27.6%) and finger pain (27.6%). Univariate analyses showed that poor matching of desk height with chair height was found to be related to low back pain, neck pain and arm pain; it was also related to local fatigue of the shoulder and neck regions. Fatigue and pain at the lower back were related to bending of the back at work. Finger pain and arm pain were related to the period of time which they had worked as a typist. Multivariate analyses were done with logistic regression to sort out the relative influence on the outcome of the different risk factors adjusted for age and for each other.PMID: 7963484 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] MeSH TermsAdultEquipment DesignFemaleHumansMan-Machine SystemsMusculoskeletal Diseases/complications*Musculoskeletal Diseases/epidemiologyOccupational Diseases/complications*Occupational Diseases/epidemiologyRisk FactorsSurveys and QuestionnairesMedicalOccupational Health - MedlinePlus Health Information
By continuing to browse this site you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Click here to find out more » Add an image URL Upload a video | Alternatively, you can email us at: tips@thejournal.ie Please log in to comment Please log in with facebook to become a fan Create an email alert based on the current article One email every morning As soon as new articles come onlineDisclaimer: The opinions expressed herein are my own personal opinions and do not represent my employer's view in any way.If working on the computer is becoming a pain in the neck, it might be time to rearrange your work area and change some of your computer habits. Start the new year off right by following these simple suggestions for healthy computing. Take a 3-minute break every 30 minutes.During your break, breathe deeply from your abdomen. Relax your arms in your lap, and then stand up and stretch your neck and shoulders. You can set a recurring reminder in your e-mail or scheduling program to help you remember to take a break.
Try these workstation stretches recommended by the National Institute of Health.First, adjust your chair height so your feet are firmly supported by the floor (or a foot rest) and your thighs are parallel to the ground. Next, adjust the backrest so that it supports your lower back. The backrest (not your arms) should support your torso weight.Set your work surface to elbow height. A desk that’s too high can give you shoulder fatigue. If you use a fixed-height work surface, try installing a keyboard and mouse tray that you can adjust. Place any devices you use frequently, such as your mouse and keyboard, within easy reach.Place your monitor at arm’s length and make sure the top of your screen is eye level when sitting up straight. (Bifocal users might need a lower monitor.) Center your monitor and keyboard in front of you so you don’t twist your neck while typing. If you refer to documents while typing, consider using a document stand to position documents near eye level.
Throughout the day, try moving the mouse to alternate sides of the keyboard. Switching hands will help balance the load between your arms. This can be particularly helpful if your shoulder or neck hurts on one side only. You can use a symmetrical mouse to make left-and right-hand pointing more comfortable. Check out the ergonomic symmetrical mouse devices designed by Microsoft. Get a headset for your phone.Never hold the phone between your head and shoulder. If you use the phone frequently, use a headset to reduce the strain on your neck. Use a forearm rest.A forearm rest can reduce the load on your shoulders by supporting your forearms (not your wrists or elbows) when using the computer. Several ergonomic forearm rest styles are available online. Choose one that doesn’t lock you into a single posture. If you’re using the arm rests on your chair arm but are experiencing discomfort, try removing the arm rests. They can sometimes place your arms in an awkward position or put pressure on the nerves in your elbows.
Make sure to support only your arm weight on the forearm rest, and not your full upper body weight.When using a notebook computer over long periods of time, attach it to a docking station and use an external keyboard and mouse. If you don’t have a docking station, you can raise the height of your notebook screen to eye level and then plug in a USB keyboard and mouse. When you’re away from your desk, consider using a notebook mouse instead of the mouse built into your notebook. Check out the wired and wireless notebook mouse devices designed by Microsoft. Use a sit/stand workstation.Try using an adjustable sit/stand desk that supports neutral postures. It lets you adjust the height of your work station to accommodate both sitting and standing positions. Seek medical attention for recurring discomfort or pain.These tips aren’t intended to replace medical treatment. If you have consistent neck or shoulder pain, consult a healthcare provider. For more tips about healthy computing and workstation ergonomics, see the Microsoft Healthy Computing Guide.