Posture: Are you sitting comfortably? (Complementary/Natural Health in general)

Member Name: ihatebroccoli

Product:	Complementary/Natural Health in general
Date:	02/11/00 (56 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Reduces back pain, makes long-term computer work more comfortable

Disadvantages: Just because you're sitting correctly, it won't improve your eyes if you've been at your monitor too long.

Posture has got to be *the* most import thing for dooyooers, surely! It has for me anyway. As a postgrad, and especially as an undergrad student, I’ve spend long periods of time at the computer screen, hunched over, sat on my crappy typists swivel chair, and now I’m paying the price. In addition to this, dooyoo, you have a lot to answer for! ;-) Like everyone else on here I’m sure, I tend to spend a long time reading, rating and reviewing opinions, I’m another dooyoo addict, and my back is complaining bitterly.

I found that I started to get pain in my shoulder blade on one side, and even a slight tingling along the back of my neck, from sitting at the computer for long periods of time. I always try to take the recommended “every hour break” from the screen, but still, time goes so quickly in “cyberspace”, that an hour becomes two hours, and suddenly it’s 3am and I’ve been sat there most of the night.

The most important thing I’ve found about sitting at the screen for long periods is the height of your monitor. I have a very high desk, and can’t raise my chair any higher, and the monitor is very low down, so to combat this I put “The Chronicle of the 20th Century” underneath it (never fear though, I do still refer to it, it’s just a useful huge book, the only thing I could find to support my enormous 19” monitor). Now my monitor is raised to a height, where I am looking directly into the centre of the screen, and not looking down or up at it and straining my neck. I know you can buy proper monitor rests, but my book serves the same purpose, and it was free.

The second thing is your feet. I have seen that a lot of people in offices tend to have these – a footrest. They are incredibly useful, and good for your posture whilst seated. You make sure your chair is at the appropriate height, and then set your footrest to compliment this. You can b
uy adjustable footrests, which you can tilt, or set at a certain height, and they greatly improve comfort when you have to sit for a long time. If you can’t afford a proper footrest (they are not *that* expensive anyway!) then you could perhaps use a couple of garden “kneelers”, to raise the height of your legs a little, and improve your posture for free.

Lastly, is of course your choice of seating. I was given the chair I currently use, so I’ve “managed” with it for far too long (I’m going out for a proper “ergonomic” office chair this weekend). I sat at my desk on it throughout writing my final year dissertation, and throughout much of my research work, and my back really is paying for it now (even though the chair cost me nothing!). I’ve tried the chairs which are supposed to make you sit up straight, the ones where you kneel and there is no back, but I’ve found I still end up slumping. The best, and most supportive office chairs I’ve found are ones which give support at the base of the spine, and are curved. Chairs with a good solid seat, which doesn’t raise your thighs too high, whilst sat at a desk, and if it has arm rests, make sure they don’t raise your arms too high, or too far away from your body.

http://www.3m.com/cws/selfhelp/posture.html is a good basic site for information on “office ergonomics” and posture in general.

http://www.engr.unl.edu/ee/eeshop/rsi.html is also a good resource of advice about computer-related repetitive strain injury and related posture problems, and how to prevent them.

I am looking forward to my new pain-free chair, and will definitely be more time-conscious in future. Afterall, is it really worth it ruining your back, when there are so many simply things you can do to improve your posture

Summary: