Hein Viljoen
Physiotherapy
Up to 80% of adults experience back pain at some point in their lives, and with so many of us now working in offices, our workstations deserve a closer look. If you are an office worker who struggles with neck, back and shoulder pain, your desk may be part of the problem. Where your screen sits, how high your chair is, and how you hold your phone all affect how much strain your body takes on during the workday.
This audit takes you through seven checks at your own desk, from screen and chair height to lighting and phone position.
Ergonomics means fitting the workplace to the person, rather than the other way round. The word comes from two Greek roots: ergon, meaning work, and nomos, meaning natural law. In practice, it means designing work and workspaces around the people who use them, so there is less strain, fewer injuries and more comfort and efficiency.
Desk work can be hard on the body, as these figures show:
If you are at a desk most of the day, how it is set up can make a real difference in how your body feels. So let's go through the seven things to check.
Sit at your desk the way you normally do, then work through each point in order.
The top of your monitor or laptop's screen should sit at or just below eye level. If it sits lower, raise it with a monitor riser or a stack of books so you aren't looking down for hours at a time.
Your feet should rest flat on the floor with your knees at 90 degrees and your hips slightly higher than your knees. If your feet do not reach the floor, adjust the chair height.
Let your elbows sit at 90 degrees and keep your wrists neutral, not bent up or down. Keep the mouse close to the keyboard so you don't have to reach,
Sit all the way back in your chair, so the lumbar support fills the curve of your lower back. Try not to perch on the edge of the seat, because you lose that support completely.
Place your screen at right angles to any windows to avoid glare. If you use a desk lamp, make sure it doesn't shine straight into your eyes.
If you work from paper documents, put them in a document holder beside your screen at eye level. It stops your neck from turning back and forth between paper and screen.
Never cradle your phone between your ear and shoulder. For long calls, use a headset, and only use tablets on a stand.
Most of these fixes are actually small, but they can make a big difference in how your body feels and how you move after a long day at a desk.
If you or your team have ongoing neck, shoulder or back pain, a workstation check on its own may not be enough. Posture, movement patterns, muscle function and daily work habits can all play a part, and a physiotherapist can work out which ones matter in your case. The sooner you deal with it, the less likely a few sore days are to turn into chronic pain.
At Hein Viljoen Physiotherapy, our corporate wellness service helps your team improve posture, reduce back and neck pain, and support better focus and performance. Contact us for more information. to get started.
