
If your job involves sitting and working at a computer most of your day, you have probably experienced some kind of back pain or neck pain.
Dr. Troy shares his suggestions for preventing neck and back pain while sitting at a desk.
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Video Transcription
Dr. Troy here.
Today’s question is, what is the optimal sitting position for preventing both lower back and neck pain when viewing a computer screen?
This is a great question because a majority of my patients sit at a desk. So they always ask me, what do I have to do doc? One thing that I try and encourage people to do is sit on a ball if it’s possible. That will help if you have a sitting desk and a ball. It helps keep your spine active and mobile.
Also, not having your neck below parallel. So your screen would be up a little bit making your neck picked up a little bit, not like this. That will make everything back here sore and tired; it’s going to contract the muscles in the front and that could actually lead to early disc degeneration or spinal degeneration.
Also, we see a whole slew of shoulder problems. So have your head tipped up at a computer, having your elbows at a 90, having your shoulders parallel. I’ve had patients who actually sit at their desks with their bodies forward and their computers this way, which I recommend not doing. I would recommend turning your body square up with that.
A couple of other things that we encourage people to do is get up every 10 to 15 minutes. Just for a minute, move around and stretch. One of the best things you can do and I tell all my patients this, is to get more into extension. Just a few reps of this, just hold it five to ten seconds and you work on increasing the flexibility in the front of your neck.
You’ll be surprised. You will get more energy, your shoulders will feel looser, your hips will feel more free, your knees won’t be as tight and your lower back will feel better. The key is to get up and move. We weren’t designed to sit. We were designed to move.
Those are some tips on how to prevent neck and back pain while sitting at a computer.