You know that posture that you have at work? You may even have it right now: you know what I mean....sitting slumped in your chair with slouched shoulders and your head straining forward, eyes looking down at the computer screen. Sound familiar?
This unhealthy position can lead to a number of ailment including headaches, neck stiffness, tension in the shoulders and contribute to low back pain. These symptoms can affect your productivity while you're working as well as make you feel terrible.
With the proliferation of computers, laptops and smartphones, doctors and other practitioners see so many people with this condition that we could even give it a name -- Office Worker Syndrome or OWS. (OWS also stands for Occupy Wall Street, but that's another story!) Unfortunately OWS doesn't just happen at work. It can strike at home too, at your home office or while using your laptop on your couch. Even when using a smartphone, if you have your head constantly down reading messages and checking the internet, it can cause pain and stiffness in the neck and shoulders.
An easy solution to help OWS is to monitor your monitor at your workstation. When your eyes look straight ahead, they should strike the screen in its centre. You might be shocked to find out that you're actually looking above your monitor when you do this! A hefty yellow pages directory would be good for this but they also sell monitor stands to raise it up.
You may say, I can't raise the screen because I work on a laptop. Most of us use a laptop while we're sitting on the couch and while this is fine for some quick searching or emailing, it's not ideal for a prolonged work session. Sitting at a table or desk will help decrease the strain on your posture and allow you to use a separate keyboard and mouse to raise the laptop to the desirable height.
If you find that you can't raise your monitor high enough, try lowering your chair! Sit with both feet flat on the ground and see if that helps.
When using your smartphone, be conscious of your head position. Try to lift your head periodically, or raise your arm and read your screen at eye level so that your head is upright. It's hard to change, but it will be worth it in the long run.
These small changes will help to reduce the effect of OWS but this may not be enough if you already suffer from some of these symptoms. If you do, chiropractic care and massage therapy are two ways to help deal with the neck stiffness, headaches, mid back tension and low back pain.
You don't have to suffer from the "ows" of OWS!
Dr. Maya Pande is the owner of Pande Family Wellness Centre in Toronto. She graduated from the University of Western Ontario and completed her Chiropractic education at Logan College of Chiropractic in St. Louis, Missouri in 1997. Dr. Pande treats a variety of patients, including seniors, pregnant women, children and adults of all ages. Common conditions include low back pain, chronic neck pain, sciatic nerve pain, shoulder joint pain, headache and many others. The low-force chiropractic technique she uses is ideal for everyone especially those preferring a more gentle approach to chiropractic care. http://www.pandechiropractic.ca/
No comments:
Post a Comment