4 Easy Ways to Improve Your Posture at Work
If you often experience neck and back pain, chances are it’s coming from your poor posture. Whether it’s staring at your computer or sitting on your chair for hours, a poor posture can also cause headaches, poor balance, and breathing difficulties.
But how can you improve and maintain a proper work posture?
Improving Posture at Work: Check Out These 4 Tips
Here are practical tips to help you improve your posture and stay healthy at work:
Keep Track of Your Neck and Back Pain
Tracking your back and neck pain can help you determine patterns in your daily activities that may be causing your pain. By linking the pain to a particular activity, it becomes easier to avoid such activities. For instance, if your back starts to ache after a few hours of sitting at the office, you may want to start taking breaks after every hour.
Embrace Neutral Posture
A neutral posture (sitting/standing upright) keeps the spine in its natural aligned position, which helps prevent muscle tension, nerve pinching, and spinal compression. To maintain a neutral posture at the workplace:
- Use chair with a lumbar support
- Position the computer screen at your natural eye level so your head doesn’t tilt
- Keep your back flat on the chair while your shoulders are pulled back
If your natural posture is already compromised, see an experienced chiropractor for realignment.
Utilize Sit-and-Stand Desks
For a typical office setting, taking the recommended 20-30 minutes breaks may not be so easy (or even possible). However, you can make use of ergonometric support systems such as “sit-and-stand” desks to encourage a neutral posture. The desk allows you to switch between standing and sitting, reducing your sitting time and back pain by up to 54 percent.
Move
When you’re seated for hours, your muscles get cramped, forcing you into an awkward posture, which in turn puts pressure on your neck and back.
To prevent this, take a break every half an hour to stand, stretch, or walk. Where possible, do some tasks or activities while standing or walking. For example, answer calls while standing and take a walk during lunch breaks.
Get Your Natural Posture Back With Active Health
At Active Health, we encourage you to practice good work posture to prevent injury and discomfort.
If you’ve been sitting in an awkward posture for a long period, visit our chiropractors in North Palm Beach for comprehensive spine realignment. Call us at (561) 842-2273 to schedule an appointment.
Posted In:
Chiropractic
Neck Pain
Posture
Back Pain
Natural Posture
