WORKING WELL
Andrew Byrne MCSP HCPC and the team at True Physio explain how movement, desk set-up and posture can all help to avoid neck and shoulder pain while working
If you spend any time sat at a desk at work, chances are you’ll get some aches and pains in the neck and shoulders from time to time and you might also suffer from regular headaches. Most people put up with them, but there’s actually no need to. Most people we see with these issues wish they’d come sooner, when very quickly they start to feel better and more able to control their symptoms.
The three key aspects to avoiding pain at your desk are:
Move!
Humans weren’t designed to sit in one position for extended periods of time, and so if you don’t move for a long period, it’s fairly inevitable that you will get some discomfort. The problem is, if you do this everyday at work, then over the years that’s a whole lot of time you’ve spent not moving, and that’s why we see so many people in clinic who sit all day in work.
So, the first thing you can do to reduce aches and pains when you sit at a desk is to move regularly. Any movement will do to be honest, just move your neck and shoulders regularly. You don’t have to even stop working necessarily, just look over each shoulder a few times whilst on the phone or circle your shoulders whilst writing an e-mail. It’s not difficult moving more, it’s difficult remembering to do it, so we suggest you put a post-it note on the bottom of your screen. Every time you see it, move!
Desk set-up
Make sure that your desk is well set up for you. The most common issues we see when doing desk assessments are that people sit too far away from the desk, the screen is too far away and at the wrong height and the mouse is disappearing off to the righthand side somewhere. If you haven’t already, try to make adjustments to get more comfortable at your desk, and make sure you’ve had your desk assessed to make sure it’s set up for you and the work you need to do at it. We are all different sizes so desk set up is definitely not one size fits all!
Posture
The reason desk set up is so important is that it allows for the best possible posture. Good posture isn’t ‘sitting up straight’ necessarily but it is putting everything in the position it was designed to be in. That usually does mean sitting taller, pulling the shoulders back slightly and tucking the chin back a bit too. This means that the joints, muscles and ligaments around the neck, shoulders and the rest of the spine are under less stress and pressure than they would otherwise be in.
Everyone knows what a good posture is really, but again we forget when we’re busy working, so use that post-it note again to remind you. Each time you see it, sit up taller. It might not last, but at least for a short amount of time you’ll take the pressure off the structures around your neck and shoulders.
Follow this advice and you will very likely see an improvement in your aches and pains. If you need further help, you can come and see us. Physio and massage can help, we can carry out a desk assessment and we have self-treatment products that are brilliant for reducing pain at the desk.
For more information, go to: www.truephysio.co.uk or follow them on Facebook @TruePhysioUK
