Computer work: how to avoid problems with your neck and back

Most people use computers and inevitably Osteopaths see lots of people who are experiencing neck back and shoulder problems, some also affecting the hands and arms. This is usually caused by prolonged use of the keyboard and mouse coupled with unsatisfactory workstation layout and/or poor keyboard or mouse technique. If your arms or shoulders start aching/tingling, give yourself more breaks in the future and reorganise your workstation to ensure that your equipment is correctly set-up for you. As a general rule, laptops are far worse for you than desktops. If you only have a laptop buy a stand, keyboard and mouse to plug into it, you will see the postural improvement immediately.

Adjusting your workstation to suit you

Adjust your chair and computer to find the most comfortable position for your work.  Your arms should be approximately horizontal and your eyes at the same height as the top of the computer screen. Position your screen 350 – 600 mm away from you and adjusting the screen swivel and tilt mechanism will allow a comfortable viewing angle and will help avoid neck muscles becoming fatigued.

Adjust seat height to ensure hands are perpendicular to keyboard.

With the chair set to the correct height, it should not be too high to create pressure under your thighs nor too low to give no thigh support, your knees should be at right angles, feet on the floor or a support.

Make sure there is enough space underneath your desk to move your legs freely.

You should ensure that you sit ‘face on’ to your computer screen. This will avoid you twisting your body and placing unnecessary strain on muscles and tendons. Using a split screen on a larger screen is far better than two screens side by side or one on top of the other.

Arrange your desk and screen so that bright lights are not reflected in the screen. Ideally purchase a sit to stand desk they work in virtually any environment and save your back.

Workstation use

Don’t sit in the same position for long periods. Make sure you change your posture as often as practicable.

Screen-based work should be broken up by other tasks. I recommended that you should have a break of at least 5 minutes for 30 spent doing screen-based work.

The seat back height should be adjusted to provide support for the small of your back when you are sitting erect but comfortable. Try not to slouch as this could lead to back problems.

Ensure that you use your mouse correctly. The mouse should be positioned close to your body to avoid excessive reaching to operate it.

Lastly, if you are having problems seeing the screen go have an eye test as it can solve a lot of problems (and try not to wear ‘varifocals’ when you use the computer they seem make people hold their necks in one position for too long and cause lots of problems in my view).