Today, especially in the post-pandemic world, our work, travel and social lives encourage sitting or standing for prolonged periods. Everyone knows how painful poor posture can be. Slouching for too long, stirring too much or driving in peak traffic — any of these can send a pulsing pain through the body.
Poor work posture also damages the muscles and bones, which has long-term effects. Of these, musculoskeletal (muscles and bones) pain is felt first.
“MSDs [musculoskeletal disorders] are usually multifactorial,” says Dr Deepak Sharan, the dean of RECOUP Neuromusculoskeletal Rehabilitation Centre, Bengaluru. “Several factors related to the nature of work, ergonomics, environmental factors, psychosocial stressors and individual predisposition together play a role. Adopting hazardous postures is only one of the several risk factors.”
Desk workers, especially those who work on computers or other devices, are usually sedentary (waking behaviour where little energy is spent while sitting, reclining or lying down). Musculoskeletal symptoms and disorders are, therefore, among the most prevalent occupational problems. About 40 per cent of the general population report musculoskeletal pain annually.
“Sitting is the new smoking,” says Dr Prathap Addageethala, director of Atlas Chiropractic and Wellness, Bengaluru. “Back in the day, smoking was in vogue. Then ground-breaking research said that smoking causes cancer. Now, people still smoke but they’re aware of the risks.”
Importance of good posture
While sitting, support for the back is essential. The back must press against the support (the chair’s backrest) to sit upright. The shoulders shouldn’t bend forward and should be rolled back, with the shoulder blades down. The arms should be bent at a 74-to-90-degree angle with the chin parallel to the ground. The legs should be slightly apart and the feet must be flat on the ground.
“The goal is to intervene before your behaviour becomes a part of your adaptation,” says Addageethala, who is a doctor of chiropractic. “Your spine adapts over time, so if you neglect importance of proper posture for a long period of time, your bones degenerate faster and your poor posture gets locked in from a structural standpoint.”
Keeping a pillow to support the lower back can help maintain the curve in the spine. Get up and walk around at regular intervals to prevent muscle fatigue.
Advantages of good posture
A tell-tale sign of your poor posture is discomfort or pain in the neck, shoulders, upper back or lower back. You may also experience tingling, numbness or weakness. Stiffness and cramping may also occur, affecting your grip and flexibility.
Shilpa, who joined an IT major in Bengaluru during the lockdown, feels that it is difficult to pay attention to posture when she is absorbed in her work. “Working from home was a new concept,” says Shilpa, who is in her thirties. “Initially, I sat wherever and however I wanted. But I couldn’t sustain working like that. Then, I bought a chair and made sure to work at my dedicated workstation.”
In a study on the risk of musculoskeletal symptoms in computer users, 7-30 per cent of the cohort displayed symptoms in the lower back and over 50 per cent showed symptoms in the upper extremities (upper arm, forearm, wrist and hand).
“I had knee pain for a while, so I wasn’t comfortable sitting on the chair,” says Shilpa. “I stretched my legs and worked on my bed. But then my shoulders went for a toss.”
Hunching for extended periods of time will strain the muscles in your back and abdomen, reducing blood supply and can cause pain. A forward bend with the head to the front may strain the lower spinal discs causing herniation (problems in the discs or cushions between the vertebrae).
“If you sit in a position for a long period that’s comfortable but not ergonomically sound for your spine, your body will adapt to that position,” says Dr Addageethala. “If you can’t identify these postural issues, you may already be in that default mode where your body is trying to save energy and you’re going to be in that slouched position to start with. Digging yourself out of that becomes difficult, but it can be improved.”
Repeated movements such as clicking on a mouse or keyboard work can lead to tight muscles or tissue inflammation, which in turn causes compression of the nerves.
Maintaining awkward postures while sitting on a chair, positioning the wrist while typing or holding something for a long time can affect the cervical and lumbar spine joints, which are more likely to strain when the spine is in a prolonged awkward position. Sitting in a chair with a slumped posture can strain the ligaments and cause stiffness and inflammation in the joints.
Another common source of pain is applying pressure or repeatedly straining a certain region over a period — this could be the wrists while gripping the mouse or the elbows while typing. Keeping the mouse far from the keyboard will result in maintaining the awkward position which puts pressure on the wrists, shoulders and neck.
Dr Sharan says “workstyle” (how a worker responds behaviourally, cognitively and physiologically to stressful work demands) may help explain the link between ergonomic and psychosocial factors in MSD. “Of the 4,500 IT professionals we studied, 22 per cent were at a high risk of adverse workstyle,” he says. “Social reactivity, lack of breaks and deadlines/pressure were significantly correlated with pain and loss of productivity.”
The following benefits of good posture tips may help reduce muscle stiffness and pain while managing your posture better:
- Taking frequent breaks and walking/moving around during them
- Alternating between sitting and standing
- Resting the legs on a footrest
- Exercising the neck (rotating, bending to the sides, chin-tucks), shoulders (rolling, shrugging) and waist (bending to the side, front and back)
- Using a pillow to support the lower back while sitting.