Tag Archives: Ergonomics

Ergonomics, Lower Back Pain, Musculoskeletal Injuries, The Spine, Work Place Injuries

Kidney Belts for Lower Back Pain: Yay or Nay?

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One of the most common questions I get is whether kidney belts are useful to reduce back pain particularly in forklift or truck drivers and people handling goods.

It’s a good question.  I often think of the image of the weight lifter with his kidney belt.  They must know something?

To simplify the science, a lot of lower back pain can be contributed to spinal tissue failure from prolonged or recurrent high compression or shear forces through the spine that occur when:

  1. Lifting heavy weights
  2. Lifting lighter weights using poor posture e.g. with arms stretched out in front  (functionally increasing spinal compression and shear forces) or with high repetition.
  3. Sustaining postures that reduce the lumbar curve (such as bending or slouch sitting)
  4. Being exposed to whole body vibration through sitting in a vehicle for more than 3 hours per day.

(1-4).

Is there anyway that we can reduce this spinal loading without changing our handling techniques?

Yes: if you hold your breathe for a few seconds, this raises the pressures in your abdominal cavity which  reduces spinal loading by relaxing the spinal muscles (the back muscles increase spinal loading when they work) (5-7).  However, you can’t hold your breathe forever and this advantage is lost.  So not really a workable solution.

What about kidney belts? Research found that kidney belts can slightly lower spinal muscle contractions (8-11%) and limit the amount of forward bending during lifting and encourage squat lifting, therefore reducing spinal loading in this scenario (6), however,  kidney belts tended to increase spinal muscle contractions in forklift drivers and make them more likely to experience back pain than forklift drivers who didn’t wear them (6,8).

References:

  1. Chaffin DB, Park KS (1973). A longitudinal study of low-back pain as associated with occupational weight lifting factors. Am Ind Hyg Assoc J. 34(12):513-25
  2. Freivalds A, Chaffin DB, Garg A, Lee KS (1984). A dynamic biomechanical evaluation of lifting maximum acceptable loads. J Biomech. 17(4):251-62.

  3. Adams MA, McNally SD, Chinn H, Dolan P (1994). Posture and the compressive strength of the lumbar spine. J Biom. 27(6):791-791.

  4. Nachemson AL (1981). Disc pressure measurements. Spine. 6(1):93-7.

  5. Arjmand, N.; Shirazi-Adl, A. (2006). Role of intra-abdominal pressure in the unloading and stabilization of the human spine during static lifting tasks. European Spine Journal. 15:1265–1275.
  6. McGill, S. M.; Norman, R. W.; Sharratt, M. T. (1990). The effect of an abdominal belt on trunk muscle activity and intraabdominal pressure during squat lifts. Ergonomics. 33:147-160.
  7. Daggfeldt K, Thorstensson A (1997). The role of intra-abdominal pressure in spinal unloading. J Biomech. 30:1149–1155.
  8. McGill SM, Norman RW, Sharratt MT (1990). The effect of an abdominal belt on trunk muscle activity and intra-abdominal pressure during squat lifts. Ergonomics. 33:147–60.
Ergonomics, Monitor Ergonomics, Work Place Injuries

Is your monitor positioned too far?

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I most often hear people blame their chair when they’re uncomfortable at their computer workstation, but in reality, a common cause for their actual discomfort, is the incorrect placement of their monitor, particularly when the monitor is placed too far.

Monitor positioned too far away causing forward leaning slouching postures. Very bad for neck pain, headaches and back pain.

A monitor position that is too far from the user causes people to lean forwards away from the backrest to lean in towards the monitor.

This causes prolonged slouching and poking chin postures, creating pressure on joints in the upper neck causing headaches, and over activation of the upper trapezius muscles leading to neck pain as well as high compression on the lumbar spinal discs leading to back pain.

So, how do we fix this? Buy a new chair? Of course not. If you’re sitting badly, always check that when leaning backwards against your chair, if you place your arms in front of you like Frankenstein, your fingers touch the screen. If they don’t, bring your screen closer.

Lean backwards in your chair and reach your arms forward like Frankenstein to find the correct distance that your monitor should be positioned at.

At the same time, ensure that your forearms are supported either on your desk, or on your armrests. This will differ depending on other factors in your setup.

This is what good sitting posture should look like. Always ensure that your chair is inclined sufficiently backwards and NOT upright.

Please join the conversation, ask questions, make comments or share with friends and colleagues if you found this helpful.

Ergonomics

COMPANIES HAVE UNTIL JUNE 2021 TO COMPLY WITH THE NEW ERGONOMICS LEGISLATION

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The new ergonomic legislation requires employees in summary to:

  1. Perform ergonomic risk assessments of all jobs that may pose an ergonomic risk to staff before the commencement of work, by a competent person. From this assessment, a hierarchy of ergonomic risks must be drawn up to be attended to as well as the plan to manage these risks according to the hierarchy of controls. These assessments must be repeated at least every 2 years; or earlier in the event of an incident or injury, if the controls in place are failing or are outdated or if the work process or environment has changed.
  2. All employees must be trained on the new legislation, the current ergonomic risks in their workplace and the affects this could have on their health. The training also needs to include information on the current control measures in place and the steps staff need to take to report any further ergonomic hazards. It should also cover the importance of medical surveillance and ergonomic risk assessments in controlling these risks.  
  3. Refresher training must occur at intervals determined by the health and safety department.
  4. All personnel who are deemed to be exposed to high ergonomic risks must be placed under medical surveillance which needs to commence within 30 days of employment and is monitored no less than every 2 years. An exit medical examination is required for all staff leaving employment who were undergoing medical surveillance.
  5. Records must be kept for a minimum of 40 years.
  6. Employees themselves are compelled by the legislation to comply with any instruction given by their employer or employer’s representative regarding actions to follow pertaining to ergonomic risks and their control. They are also required to report any ergonomic risks to their employer, attend any medical surveillance deemed necessary, to attend and comply with all ergonomic related training and to assist in the ergonomic risk assessments as required by the competent person.

To read the full draft of the legislation click on the link below.

Ergonomics-Regulations-42894-6-12

Ergonomics, Lower Back Pain, Musculoskeletal Injuries, The Spine, Work Place Injuries

Lower Back Pain and Spinal Loading

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Lower back pain is a very complex problem and may have many causes.  One cause is when spinal tissue failure occurs as a result of high compression forces applied through the spine leading to spinal injuries.  High spinal compression forces may lead to micro fractures in the vertebral endplates, compression fractures of the vertebral bodies and damage to the spinal discs (1-3).

Activities which cause high spinal compression forces include:

  • Lifting heavy weights.
  • Lifting lighter weights in weak postures which increase the functional weight of the object and thus the load on spinal tissues (e.g. lifting from the floor or above shoulder height).
  • Sustained spinal bending postures (with or without a load in the hand).
  • High repetition spinal bending postures (with or without a load in the hand).
  • Exposure to whole body vibration in vehicles that experience vibrational acceleration including shocks between 2-6g (11).

(1-4,11).

Certain body postures also create higher compression forces through the spine than others.  For example, bending the spine while lifting, increases the pressures on the spinal discs by more than 100%.   Spinal bending combined with twisting increases spinal disc pressures by more than 400%.  On the other hand, when people recline backwards in a chair, even while adopting a slouching posture, spinal disc pressures reduce by 50-80% – a posture most of us adopt when we’re getting tired during extended bouts of sitting.  Sitting up straight in a chair actually creates twice the spinal compression compared with reclining backwards in a chair – something to tell your granny or your teacher when they criticize your reclined slouching posture!

(3,4).

In 1979, it was noted that when heavy lifting was performed while holding one’s breath (for a few seconds), the intra-abdominal pressure was raised, the spinal extensor muscles activity reduced and both led to reduced compression loading on the lumbar spine, reducing the risk for spinal injury.  However, if the heavy lifts extended for longer than a few moments, the breathe was released and the intra-abdominal pressure fell to much lower levels, reducing this spinal support mechanism substantially (5).  This reduction in spinal compression due to raised intra-abdominal pressure was supported by research published in 2003, 2006 and 2010 and showed that the greatest benefit occurred when the body was in flexed (bent) postures (6-8).

The question arises as to how raised intra-abdominal pressure reduces spinal compression and helps to protect the spine from spinal compression failure leading to spinal injury and lower back pain.

Both abdominal and spinal extensor muscle contraction cause an increase in the spinal compression forces.  However, the abdominal muscle contractions (0- 40% MVC) also assist in raising the intra-abdominal pressure, and when doing so, the net forces on the spine result in reduced spinal compression.  In these circumstances it was also found that there was a reduction in the activity of the erector spinae muscles, with a greater reduction in these muscles’ activity corresponding to a greater increase in intra-abdominal pressure (8).

Furthermore, a 2013 published study revealed that chronic lower back pain sufferers who were experiencing a remission from their pain still exhibited lower levels of agonistic abdominal muscle activity and higher levels of antagonistic paraspinal muscle activity when compared to healthy individuals when performing spinal flexion (stooping/bending) with or without handling a load.  This alteration in their abdominal and spinal muscle recruitment activity/ patterns could result in increased spinal loads (not measured in their study) and possibly contribute to the recurrence of lower back pain in individuals where these altered recruitment patterns have become the norm (9).  On the other hand, research published in 2011 showed that activation of the core muscles showed no improvement in spinal stability, casting doubt on the mechanism in which core muscle rehabilitation is used to assist in the treatment of chronic lower back pain (10).

 

References:

  1. Chaffin D.B.; Park K.S (1973). A longitudinal study of low-back pain as associated with occupational weight lifting factors. Am Ind Hyg Assoc J. 34(12):513-25.
  2. Freivalds A.; Chaffin D.B.; Garg A.; Lee K.S. (1984). A dynamic biomechanical evaluation of lifting maximum acceptable loads.  J Biomech. 17(4):251-62.

  3. Adams M.A.; McNally S.D.; Chinn H.; Dolan P. (1994). Posture and the compressive strength of the lumbar spine. J Biomech. 27(6):791-791.

  4. Nachemson A.L. (1981). Disc pressure measurements. Spine. 6(1):93-7.

  5. Hutton, W. C.; Cyron, B. M.; Stott, J. R.R. (1979). The compressive strength of lumbar vertebrae. J Anatomy. 129(4): 753-758.
  6. Daggfeldt, K.; Thorstensson, A. (2003).  The mechanics of back-extensor torque production about the lumbar spine. J Biomech. 36(6): 815-823.
  7. Arjmand, N.; Shirazi-Adl, A. (2006). Role of intra-abdominal pressure in the unloading and stabilization of the human spine during static lifting tasks. European Spine Journal. 15:1265–1275.
  8. Stokes I.A.; Gardner-Morse M.G.; Henry S.M. (2010). Intra-abdominal pressure and abdominal wall muscular function: Spinal unloading mechanism. Clinical Biomechanics. Nov;25(9):859-66.
  9. D’hooge, R.; Hodges, P.; Tsao H.; Hall L.; MacDonald D.; Danneels L. (2013). Altered trunk muscle coordination during rapid trunk flexion in people in remission of recurrent low back pain. J of Electromyograhy and Kinesiology. Feb;23(1):173-81.
  10. Stokes I.A.; Gardner-Morse M.G.; Henry S.M. (2011). Abdominal muscle activation increases lumbar spinal stability: analysis of contributions of different muscle groups. Clinical Biomechanics. Oct;26(8):797-803.
  11. Bazrgari, B.; Shirazi-Adl, A.; Kasra, M. (2008). Seated whole body vibrations with high-magnitude accelerations—relative roles of inertia and muscle forces. Journal of Biomechanics. 41:2639-2646.
Ergonomics, Neck Pain

Neck Pain and Your Elbow Angle

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It’s strange thing to think that your elbow angle is possibly related to your neck pain.  But, it’s true.  Well, more specifically, it’s true in certain situations.  Read on:

Neck pain is sometimes caused as a result of tension or spasm in the upper trapezius muscle. The upper trapezius muscles are the upper fibers of the large diamond shaped trapezius muscle that covers the back of your neck and middle back, illustrated below.  As you can see, the upper fibers connect the neck and the shoulder, and it’s normally in the mid belly region of these upper fibers that people experience neck pain.

"Trapezius muscle" by Användare:Chrizz under Licence CC BY 3.0
“Trapezius muscle” by Användare:Chrizz under Licence CC BY 3.0

Why does your upper trapezius muscle become inflamed or go into spasm and create your neck pain?

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Well, one common reason is because of stress (which can cause inflammation of the trapezius muscle in the absence of trigger points and muscle spasm).

Read my article about Stress and Neck Pain.

Another reason is because of fatigue of the upper trapezius muscle.  When your upper trapezius muscle fibers are made to work under low loads for extended periods of time, they become fatigued and you are then likely to experience pain in the presence of spasm.

What causes the upper trapezius muscle to fatigue while you sit behind your computer and work?

"Overview of the new office for The Team" by Phil Whitehouse under Licence CC BY 2.0
“Overview of the new office for The Team” by Phil Whitehouse under Licence CC BY 2.0

There are a number of factors surrounding your computer workstation that can cause your upper trapezius muscle to fatigue and create neck pain for you.

Read my post on 4 Computer Monitor Positions that can Cause Neck Pain.

One of the least well known reasons to creating fatigue of your upper trapezius muscle and hence your neck pain, is the angle of your elbow while you work.  

A very interesting study found that when you work on your keyboard and mouse, the angle that you keep your elbow at will determine the level of your upper trapezius muscle activity and your neck pain.  Keeping the angle of your elbow greater than 90 degrees, helps to reduce the fatigue of the upper trapezius muscle fibers and reduces neck pain.

This elbow angle position is important when it comes to where you position your keyboard and mouse as you work at your desk.  As I’ve mentioned before in other posts, your screen needs to be arms length away from you when you’re leaning backwards against your chair’s backrest.  In contrast to a closer position of the computer monitor than most people tend to adopt, the keyboard and mouse need to be positioned further away and not too close to yourself.

As you sit and type and mouse, your elbow angle must be open (i.e. greater than 90 degrees and up to about 120 degrees).  Working on a desktop computer, this elbow position may be more intuitive, however, be more aware of your elbow angle when you work on your laptop as well.  People often work on laptops in constrained positions and places, with the laptop quite close to you.  Learning how to setup your computer workstation correctly is important to help reduce or prevent the common aches and pains us modern workers experience.

Where do you position your keyboard and mouse when you work? And do you suffer from neck pain?

References:

Gawke J.C., Gorgievski M.J., van der Linden D. 2012. “Office Work and Complaints of the Arms, Neck and Shoulders: The Role of Job Characteristics, Muscular Tension and Need for Recovery.” Journal of Occupational Health 54: 323–330.

Bansevicius D., Westgaard R.H., Stiles T. 2001. “EMG activity and pain development in fibromyalgia patients exposed to mental stress of long duration.” Scandinavian Journal of Rheumatology 30 (2): 92-98.

Marcus M., Gerr F., Monteilh C., Ortiz D.J., Gentry E. et al. 2002. “A prospective study of computer users: II. Postural risk factors for musculoskeletal symptoms and disorders.” American Journal of Industrial Medicine 41: 236-249.

Ergonomics

4 Steps to sit comfortably in your chair

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If you’re one of the millions of Covid19 home office workers in the world, you will appreciate being able to sit comfortably for long hours at your desk.

The chair is the centre of your workstation.  Everything pivots around it.  To sit comfortably follow these 4 steps:

1. Elevate Your Chair to the correct Height

The first thing that you need to do is to set the height of your chair correctly.  How do you know if your chair height is correct?  It is not whether your feet touch the ground or not.  If you use this as your guide, you are likely to set your chair too low, which will result in you shrugging your shoulders to reach your desk and your keyboard.  Shrugging your shoulders for long periods at your desk puts you at a high risk of neck pain.  Neck pain is very common among office workers and a low chair position in relation to one’s desk is one of the reasons why that this is so common.

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Read my post on 4 monitor positions that cause neck pain.

So, to find the correct height for your chair, lean backwards against your backrest and elevate your chair until you are able to work at your desk and your keyboard with your shoulders relaxed.  If your feet dangle, don’t lower your chair back again, rather get a footrest.  If there is no money for a footrest, use some books or even reams of paper to support your feet.  Don’t rest your feet on your chair base, this will strain your back.  Also, don’t ignore it if your feet don’t firmly touch the ground.  It makes a greater difference than you think to use a support for your feet, even if it’s only a slight elevation that is necessary for you to be comfortable at your desk.

“Using a footrest is important to set your chair height correctly”

2.  Bring Your Chair Closer to Your Desk

You might also need to bring your chair close enough to your desk.  You need to bring your chair a lot closer to your keyboard and desk than you think you do.  If you don’t, you will find yourself leaning forwards away from your backrest, which can lead to lower back pain.

Read my post about the importance of your spinal posture and the s-curve of the spine.  

If the armrests are a problem and preventing you from bringing your chair close enough to your desk because they are fixed, get someone from maintenance to remove them.  If you have adjustable armrests, first try to lower them, but if the correct height of your chair causes them to knock against your desk, then raise them slightly to slide just over your desk.

 
“Recline your chair backwards to about -8 degrees” by CS Body Health cc. All Rights Reserved. 2016

3. Incline Your Backrest Backwards to -8 Degrees:

Some people believe that if their chair is upright, they are sitting in good posture and sitting correctly.  Good posture for the spine is maintaining the s-curve of the spine while reclined approximately -8 degrees.  

Sitting too upright places higher loads on the spine than if it is reclined backwards.  If you sit too upright, you will fatigue faster.  Think about it, when you are tired from sitting for too long, you scoot your bum forwards in your chair and lean backwards.  You naturally do this to offload the spine and rest.  Recline your chair and set your desk around the reclined position to be comfortable.  

4.  If Your Chair has an Adjustable Backrest

If your chair has an adjustable backrest, you need to make sure that the curve of the backrest is placed in the small of your back.  This is to ensure that the s-curve of your spine is supported while you sit for long periods at your desk to help reduce lower back pain through reducing loads on your spine.

lumbar support
“Correct position of the chair’s lumbar support” by CS Body Health cc. All Rights Reserved. 2016.

So there you have it, 4 easy steps to sit more comfortably.  Any comments or questions?  Please let me know and I’d be happy to help.

Ergonomics, Monitor Ergonomics, Neck Pain, Work Place Injuries

Working with Papers at Your Desk and Neck Pain

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If you’ve been following my posts, you’re starting to realise that I keep harping on about how common neck pain is among office workers.  During my pre-corporate practice days, lower back pain and knee injuries were the most common ailments I treated.  Once I moved into the corporate environment though, I was totally amazed at the high incidence of neck pain I encountered.

There are various reasons for this high incidence of neck pain in an office environment.  One large part is people’s posture while they work at their desks day in and day out (read my post on 4 monitor positions to cause neck pain).  Another reasons for this higher incidence of neck pain is the high stress levels people are exposed to in the modern day office environment (read my post on stress and neck pain).

More and more computers are taking over and we’re working with less and less paper in our offices.  A completely paperless office though, has not yet arrived for most of us.  Does it really matter?

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Who of you find yourself constantly referring to papers, writing on documents, capturing data from sheets and then working with the information on your computer as part of your job?  I find this quite common among book keepers, data capturers, etc.

ergonomics, neck pain, documents
“Writing and Typing” by CS Body Health cc. All Rights Reserved. 2016

How does working between papers and a computer increase your risk of developing neck pain?  There are a number of factors to consider in these scenarios.

  • When people work with papers/documents, I find few people actually have a proper document holder to hold the paper/document at eye level.  Instead, I find that people are placing the papers/documents on their desk instead, causes people to bend their neck for long periods of time during the day, increasing the risk of developing neck pain.  The solution is to use a document holder which will allow you to keep the papers/documents that you are working with at eye level if there is no need to write on them.  If there is no money in the office for a document holder, rest the paper/document against the computer screen and use a stapler to keep it there.  It works just as well and is free.

ergonomics, document holder, neck pain
“Creative Use of a Stapler for a Document Holder” by CS Body Health cc. All Rights Reserved. 2016

  • If there is a need to write on documents, I find that people often tend to place them flat  on their desks, forcing a bent neck posture which increases the risk of developing neck pain.  If you do need to write on paper/documents while working on your computer at the same time, grab an arch-lever folder that will slant upwards like the old school desks when we were in primary school.  This will allow you to keep a more upright posture while you lean on the folder and make notes on your paper/document.  You can then flip it back onto your chest when you need to type, and then flip it back down over the keyboard when you need to write again.  It’s a slightly irritating thing, especially when you’re not used to it, but, before throwing out the idea, weigh up the pros and cons of getting used to working like that versus experiencing frequent bouts of neck pain.  
  • I also find that when people are working with documents on their desk, they may push their computer screens back and out of the way or move their computer away to one side to allow them space to work on their desks.  Pushing your computer far away from you and placing documents on the table between yourself and your computer and keyboard will create a poking chin posture, which is a high risk posture for developing neck pain (read my post on spinal posture and pain).  Placing your computer screen to one side is another high risk posture for developing neck pain.  Both postures create compressive forces on neck joints resulting in an increased risk of developing neck pain.  The solution here is the same for the scenario above: use an archer-lever folder as well as bringing the computer screen back to a position straight in front of yourself and to the correct distance from yourself when you work (read my post on how to to correct the distance of your computer screen to reduce neck pain).

"Using an Arch-lever Folder as a Portable Writing Desk" by CS Body Health cc. All Rights Reserved. 2016
“Using an Arch-lever Folder as a Portable Writing Desk” by CS Body Health cc. All Rights Reserved. 2016

Ergonomics, Lower Back Pain, The Spine, Work Place Injuries

Correcting Your Driving Posture to Reduce Lower Back Pain

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People who suffer from lower back pain often find it aggravated by driving, or some people who drive a lot find themselves experiencing lower back pain.

Either way, there are a few things to be aware of regarding your posture in the car that will help both scenarios reduce their lower back pain and improve their driving experience.

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  1.  You need to maintain your lumbar curve in your car seat.

poor driving posture, lower back pain, loss of lumbar lordosis
“Poor slouching driving posture. Loss of lumbar curve”by CS Body Health cc. All Rights Reserved. 2016

Good driving posture, driving ergonomics, lower back pain
“Good driving posture. Lumbar lordosis maintained and supported by backrest” by CS Body Health cc. All Rights Reserved. 2016

Vertebral Column by Unknown and is licenced in the Public Domain
Vertebral Column by Unknown and is licenced in the Public Domain

Your lumbar curve is there to help reduce the loading on your spine.  When you slouch, you increase the pressure on your spinal discs and increase your risk of developing a spinal disc problem that may result in lower back pain.  The backrest of your chair is specially shaped to help maintain your curve.  To gain the benefit of your backrest, ensure that your buttocks are positioned right back against the backrest and that you are leaning backwards into it.

2.  In order to sit properly while you drive and maintain your lumbar curve, you need to position your legs at the correct distance from the pedals to prevent tight hamstrings on stretch from flattening your lumbar curve (read my post on tight hamstrings and lower back pain).

Your hamstrings attach to the bottom of your pelvis and go on stretch when you straighten your knee.  If you have tight hamstrings, when you straighten your knees to reach/press down on your car pedals, the stretch in your hamstrings will result in your pelvis being rotated backwards and your lumbar curve flattening, increasing the pressure on your spinal discs and increasing your risk of developing lower back pain.

In order to determine the correct distance of your car seat to the pedals, place one hand in your lower back and feel the curve of your lower spine, then move your seat forwards and back until you can comfortably reach the pedals while still maintaining your lower/lumbar spinal curve.

Driving Ergonomics
“Optimum chair pedal distance” by CS Body Health cc. All Rights Reserved. 2016

3.  Incline your car seat’s backrest to -8 degrees to reduce the loading on your lumbar spine and reduce spinal fatigue.

There is more loading on your spine when your backrest is upright than when it is reclined backwards.  You instinctively know this, and when you are tired from sitting upright for too long, you will intuitively move your buttocks forwards on the chair seat and lean backwards to take the strain off your spine.  Thus, positioning your car seat too upright will cause fatigue of your back and increase your risk of developing lower back pain if you are driving for long periods of time.

Too upright driving posture
“Driving posture too upright” by CS Body Health cc. All Rights Reserved. 2016

4.  Elevate/lower your chair so that your hips are 90 degrees or less. If your hip angle is too sharp, this will also increase your risk of slouching in your chair, which in turn will lead to increase pressure on your spinal discs and increase your risk of developing lower back pain.  If your seat does not allow you to sit high enough, help yourself by sitting on a small cushion.

5.  Move the steering wheel up/down/forwards and back until you find a comfortable distance from yourself to the steering wheel.  Your elbows should be slightly bent.  This will prevent your shoulders from fatiguing, which when it occurs, will also increase your spinal loading and spinal fatigue when driving and increase your risk of developing lower back pain or aggravating your current pain.

Driving ergonomics
“Steering wheel positioned too far from driver” by CS Body Health cc. All Rights Reserved. 2016

6.  Stretch your hamstrings (read my post on how to stretch your hamstrings if you have lower back pain) if they are tight to help yourself maintain good spinal posture when you drive.

Ergonomics, Lower Back Pain, Monitor Ergonomics, Neck Pain, The Spine, Work Place Injuries

Is Your Computer Monitor Positioned Too Far Away from You?

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Neck and lower back pain are such common complaints that we all know someone (if it’s not ourselves) who has experienced at least one of these complaints.  There are many causes for neck or lower back pain.  These can include different types of injuries, disease processes, genetic predispositions, and most importantly and commonly of all, our posture.  Our posture at work and our posture at home and at play.

Our work posture is getting more and more attention, especially since the advances in technology have relegated most of us to work behind a computer for long hours each day.  There are a host of things to consider in our work environment that can negatively affect our posture and cause our neck or lower back pain.

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Part of my job is going around performing office ergonomics for people.  One of the most common things I hear is people blaming their chair for their neck or lower back pain.  Most often, however, this is not correct and the real culprit is the monitor and where it has been positioned on the desk.  Luckily, this is a much cheaper and easier solution to the problem.

Your poor monitor position (read my post on 4 poor monitor positions that cause neck pain) is definitely one of the first places to look if you suffer from neck or lower back pain and you think your work posture is to blame.  There are a number of factors to consider in relation to your monitor position, but one very important and neglected element is the correct monitor distance that your monitor is positioned away from you while you work.

If your monitor is positioned too far away from you, you will find yourself leaning forwards in order to see your screen better, creating all sorts of problems in your spine (especially in your neck and lower back) and over activating your shoulder muscles, all leading you down the path of aches and pains.

Monitor Positioned too far
Image by US Navy under Public Domain

So what is the correct distance that you should place your monitor?

Generally, your monitor should be positioned a lot closer to yourself than you think it should.  And if you don’t believe me, ask yourself why you keep leaning forwards when you work.

How do you determine the correct distance that you should position your monitor at?  I call it the “Frankenstein” test.

  • Firstly, position your chair as close to your desk as possible while your arms and wrists are still able to comfortably work on your keyboard and be supported with an elbow angle of 90-120 degrees.  (In order to get close enough to your desk, you might need to adjust your armrests.  Generally I find that most armrests get in the way of the desk when you want to come closer, so one solution is to raise your armrest so that it just slides onto the surface of your desk, allowing you to bring your chair closer.  If you are unlucky enough not to have adjustable armrests and your armrests are really stopping you from bringing your chair sufficiently forwards, I recommend getting your building maintenance to remove them.  Use your desk for your arm support instead).
  • Then, lean backwards against your backrest and replicate Frankenstein’s outstretched arms – where your fingertips end, that is where your screen should be.

Closer than you think?  Give it a try and remember to keep leaning back against your chair’s backrest.  Your backrest is there to help keep you in good posture while you work.  A combination of those two factors (leaning back in your chair and having your monitor at the correct distance away from you) will go a long way to reduce your neck or lower back pain associated with poor working posture.

Ergonomics, Neck Pain, The Spine, Work Place Injuries

Touch Typing and Neck Pain

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Which one are you?  The painstaking 2 finger typer or the smug finger flying touch typer?

Who would’ve thought that typing at school would come in so handy?  Or are you kicking yourself because as it turns out you never had the foresight to take typing as a subject when you had the chance? 

finger typing
“An alphanumeric computer keyboard” by R. Jason Brunson, U.S. Navy under Public Domain

Touch Typing
“Computer keyboard” by Gflores under Public Domain

Does it really matter if you can touch type or not?  What are the implications for your health in the workplace?  How does something so seemingly insignificant make such a difference?

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I’ve written a number of posts on computer posture (click here to read about how your monitor position can cause neck pain) and neck pain (Click here to read about correcting a monitor positioned too far or too low on your desk causing neck pain).   One thing I haven’t discussed is how touch typing (or not) can influence your neck pain.

As I mentioned previously, 30-50 % of people will suffer from neck pain and office workers are at a greater risk than others for developing neck pain.  One of the reasons that neck pain is so common in the office environment is that people bend their neck too much in an office job.  Research has shown that individuals who bend their neck for 70% or more during the day dramatically increase their risk of developing neck pain compared to their colleagues who don’t.

What are some of the reasons that cause people to bend their neck for too in an office environment?

  1. The computer/laptop/tablet monitor that you’re using is positioned too low on your desk while you work, forcing you to bend your neck.
  2. You are working with documents a lot and don’t have a document holder to hold them up at eye level, thus causing you to bend your neck while you work.
  3. You don’t know how to touch type and you are forced to keep looking at your hands when you use the keyboard, forcing you to bend your neck throughout the day while you work.

When I go around to companies and perform office ergonomics, helping people to sit correctly at their computer workstations, sometimes correcting someone’s computer ergonomics is not enough to resolve the problem.   If an employee constantly still develops neck pain despite having their computer workstation  setup correctly (click here to view software to help you correct your computer ergonomics) ,  and neck injuries such as whiplash, or arthritis, or any systemic diseases which may cause neck pain are not clouding the picture, the reason why they may still be developing neck pain is possibly due to the fact that they are 2 finger typers, constantly looking down at their keyboard.

What is the solution when an inability to touch type is the problem?  Simple, but it does require some effort.  Learn how to type properly.  There are a number of FREE online typing courses:

  1. Typing Study.com
  2. Typing Club
  3. Type Online

I’m sure there are more, just google it if you don’t like any of the one’s I’ve mentioned above.  If you do use any of the above, I would appreciate feedback to help with the recommendation to others.  Please post comments to this article.

Learning how to touch type will help you to keep working in a healthy body posture, reducing your need to bend your neck so often through the day and therefore reduce your risk of developing neck pain.  Another bonus to learning to touch type is that the increased fluidity and speed of your new found typing skills will also help you to work faster which may also help reduce some of the deadline stress associated with your job.  Stress in and of itself can also be a factor in your neck pain (read my post about stress and neck pain).  A double bonus.  Good luck and please let me know how it goes.

Reference:

Ariens G.A.M., B. P. (2001). Are neck flexionk, neck rotation, and sitting at work a risk for neck pain? Results of a prospective cohort study. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 200-207.

Cagnie B., D. L. (2007, May). Individual and work related risk factors for neck pain among office workers: a cross sectional study. European Spine, 16(5), 679-686.

Guzman J., H. E.-J. (2008). A new conceptual model of neck pain linking onset, course and care: The bone and joint decade 2000-2010 task force on neck pain and its associated disorders. Spine, 33(4S), S14-S23.

Guzman J., H. S.-J. (2009, February). Clinical practice implications of the bone and joint decade 2000-2010 task force on neck pain and its associated disorders. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, 32(2S), S227-S243.