How Can I Improve My Posture?

2020 was the year of the pain in the neck, in more ways than one. Those of us in physical therapy saw a significant increase in patients reporting new or increasing neck and back pain. While we know pain is multi-factorial and personal to each person, there is one detail that oftentimes contributes to increasing pain symptoms: what position are you in for the majority of your day?

In 2020 and 2021, a large majority of people went from working at their desks to working at home in the last two years, which meant for some that they were working from their kitchen table, their countertops, or their couch. Essentially, they were now spending 8 hours a day sitting in places that were not built to support normal working positions.

Here are a few quick tips to best support your back, neck, and spine while working (wherever that may be).

  1. Ensure your laptop or computer is at eye level

Our head weighs as much as a bowling ball - that’s a lot of weight for our neck to have to support if our head is slowly starting to creep down toward our screen to view it!

This may mean having to stack your monitor on a box or books or changing the angle of your screen. The goal is to keep your head and neck neutral

Sitting posture feet on floor

2. Keep feet flat on the floor

If our feet and legs can’t stabilize us from below, our neck and back have to do all of the work supporting us from the top

3. Ensure you have a chair that your back can touch

Oftentimes, we end up sitting in a chair that is too deep (the distance from the back of the chair to the edge of the chair), leading us to slouch. This creates extra pressure through our spine and can result in neck pain.

4. Strengthen stabilizing muscles

Regardless of sitting position, pain is our body’s way of telling us something is working too hard to support us. This is oftentimes due to a decrease in use of our small, stabilizing muscles in our spine, hip, and neck.

This blog post is to give you some tips to aid in supporting your body while working, but the best way to get rid of pain in your back or neck is to address the aspects of your body that may be contributing to it in the first place. Check out this blog post for the best exercises to get you started for supporting your back!

Images from blog post:

Image 1: https://www.uprightpose.com/blog/how-long-does-it-take-correct-posture/

Image 2: https://www.system-concepts.com/insights/coronavirus-ergonomics-tips-for-working-at-home/ergo-1/

Image 3: https://uncagedergonomics.com/product_images/uploaded_images/gettyimages-637232628.jpg

Image 4: https://www.standingdeskelectric.com/four-reasons-for-why-you-will-regret-not-buying-a-standing-desk/

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Exercises to Decrease Low Back Pain