Imagine having to work at a desk job, spending 8 hours of your day sitting at a rectangular desk, in a small wheelchair, looking at the cold computer screen and your fingers tirelessly hitting the keyboard.
Time goes by, your usual backache starts to manifest itself, your neck stiffens, your wrists ache, and your headaches start. Well, that's not a fantasy, it's just another day for everyone who already works desk jobs and spends most of their time in a seated position that isn't necessarily comfortable, So where exactly is the problem?
There is no such thing as an ideal body position, but there is a good body position, which ensures that the muscles, spine, ligaments and joints between them are in a neutral position that does not cause excessive pressure on any of them (1).
Since we live on a planet with gravity pushing us down, there is a need for an anti-gravity force that reverses the effect of gravity and keeps us on our feet, and this force is represented in the contraction of the muscles of the legs, trunk and neck, in addition to the stretching of ligaments and the stacking of bones on top of each other (2), for this reason, when standing, we must For example, take a straight position so that the ear, shoulder, hip, knee and heel are in one line.
It is not difficult for your body to get used to a wrong posture. Looking at a mobile phone for long periods, carrying a backpack improperly, or even wearing improper shoes can cause your posture to deviate without you noticing (3).
Not only does poor posture cause back pain or headaches, but imbalances in your body make you more prone to falls and injuries, among other effects.
In an experiment (4) conducted at Ohio University on 71 students, participants were told that they are undergoing two studies at the same time, one of them belongs to the College of Business Administration, and the other to the College of Art, so that the first measures job satisfaction and job performance, and the second measures representational abilities for participants.
The instructions required that some participants sit erect and push their chest forward, while others sit with their backs arched, their faces looking down. While taking these positions, each of them should write 3 positive and 3 negative characteristics in their personality.
The experiment did not end here. The next step was for the students to take a questionnaire in which they rated themselves based on how well they would do their job as future professionals. The results of the questionnaire indicated that those who were sitting with their back erect were more confident in their thoughts than the other group, as their answers were consistent with what they wrote about the traits they wrote at the beginning of the test, whether they were positive or negative traits, unlike the group that sat with the back bent. Their answers are inconsistent with what they wrote previously. We can say with some confidence that your posture has a direct impact on how confident you are, but that's not all.
In another study published later (5), in the Journal of the American Psychological Association (APA), the experiment was repeated, but with some changes, where some participants took an erect sitting position and others a stooped position, then the factors of mood, ability to talk, and self-confidence were evaluated. A sense of threat. The results were broadly similar to the previous study, with participants erecting back more likely to be self-confident, in a good mood, less fearful, and more likely to talk and use positive words than the placebo group in a hunched-back position.
There is a good chance as you read these words on your mobile phone that your head is in a "forward head posture", the position your head may acquire as a result of constantly bending your neck forward while using your mobile phone or computer, and it has become a common problem over the years. The latter is due to the spread of mobile phones and their control over the greater part of our daily lives, and the problems resulting from this are endless, not least breathing problems, not to mention the problem of the roughness of the neck vertebrae and others.
In a study (6) conducted on a group of healthy participants at Bunka Gakuen University in Japan, the breathing efficiency was measured as well as the change in the shape of the rib cage in the participants while they alternately take an anterior head position and a normal head position. The researchers found in the study that the position of the front head causes a defect in breathing, resulting from the widening of the upper part of the rib cage, and the narrowing of the lower part of it, which limits its ability to fill with air during inhalation, and expel air out during exhalation with the appropriate efficiency, which forces the person to To take short, shallow breaths.
The other thing is that the forward head position automatically causes the back to bend forward, and the chest closer to the thigh, which creates increased pressure inside the abdomen, and prevents the diaphragm, which is the main muscle in the breathing process, from working optimally. It does not stop there. Excess pressure inside the abdomen impedes the normal path of food through your digestive system, and causes GERD (7), causing a burning pain in the chest as stomach acids rise to the top. The next time you grab your mobile phone, remember that it may not make you breathe normally.
You've most likely had back pain at some point in your life, and so you're among the two-thirds of adults who share the same complaint, and if your job involves sitting at a desk all day, you may be in the 30% who suffer back pain from their work every year ( 8). Women, older workers, and those who work long hours appear to be more likely to develop back pain than others (9). The reason is not limited to the wrong sitting for a long time, but also the use of a chair without a back support, and the inappropriateness of the workplace to the nature and needs of the body.
The Corona pandemic has brought many problems, at all levels, but one of the hidden problems left by the pandemic is working from home, and while some studies commend working from home and enumerate its advantages, many overlook the importance of the environment in which they work, whether in the office or at home, Here comes the importance of ergonomics, which is the science concerned with studying the interaction between humans and the environment around them and optimizing them, and this science has become very important in recent years with computers taking over business and increasing the number of hours employees spend in front of them.
Generally, ergonomics is concerned with a variety of domains. Besides body postures, you find things like environmental physics, including the status of noise, light, heat and cold, to applied psychology, learning a new skill, studying errors, differences between employees, but let's get out of all this now, and let's focus Initially on the chair you are sitting on.
In a study (10) issued by the American University of Cincinnati, led by Kermit Davis, Professor of Public Health and Environmental Sciences, and 843 employees from the same university participated, employees filled out a questionnaire to assess the environment in which they work from home, offices, chairs, computers and others. Although 58% of the participants were using dedicated office chairs, not all of them were of high quality. Not all chairs had armrests, participants did not use existing ones, or the armrests were incorrectly adjusted, which puts a strain on the upper back muscles and puts pressure on the arm muscles.
The study also observed the absence of support for the lower back, as either the participants do not use the backrest at all, or they do not use the lumbar support, which exposes the lower back to an additional burden. The type of screen is also important. Compared to regular computer screens, laptop screens are lower than the eye, forcing three-quarters of the participants to bend the neck down, and in 31% of cases, the main screen was not directly in front of the person, forcing him to twist Neck or back to see, these and other problems affect the entire spine, causing roughness and excruciating pain in the long run.
Now it may seem unpleasant to sit for long hours in front of the computer to finish your work, but what if you do your office work while standing? Recent years have seen an increase in the sales of standing workstations, and it has become more popular due to some studies that claim that standing is healthier than sitting, reduces the risk of obesity and heart disease, and burns more calories than sitting (11). This may not be accurate and needs more study, but alternating between sitting and standing may be appropriate and keep you moving.
If you decide to resort to this solution, you must use it correctly.
The computer screen must be at the same level as your eyes, you have to stand straight and look forward so that your chin is parallel to the ground.
Place the keyboard and mouse at an appropriate height with your elbow bent at a 90-degree angle.
If you cannot buy one of these desks, you can modify your traditional desk by placing a box or a group of books to raise the screen to the level of your eyes, and finally you have to take alternating breaks to sit or walk a little to avoid the damage of standing for a long time in one position.
Difficulty breathing, loss of self-confidence, irritability, back and neck pain are things worth paying attention to. You may think that sitting in front of the computer in the wrong position or standing in an inappropriate position does not affect much, but it affects a force that you cannot imagine in your work and life, so you should always pay attention to the position that you Take it sitting or standing, it's a good investment to do so.
————————————————————————————
Sources
Types of Posture: How to Correct Bad Posture
Human Postural Control |
Neuroscience
Types of Posture: How to Correct Bad Posture
Body Posture Affects Confidence In Your Own Thoughts, Study Finds
Do slumped and upright postures affect stress responses?
A randomized trial
Effect of Different Head-Neck Postures on the Respiratory Function in Healthy Males
Your heartburn isn't just from your food.
It's from your posture.
Development of a risk score for low back pain in office workers – a cross-sectional study
Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders among Office Workers in Higher Education Institutions: A Cross-Sectional Study
The Home Office: Ergonomic Lessons From the “New Normal” – Kermit G. Davis, Susan E. Kotowski, Denise Daniel, Thomas Gerding, Jennifer Naylor, Megan Syck, 2020
Standing Desks: How They Can Help You Beat Inactivity