The spine, also sometimes known as the vertebral column or back bone, is possibly the most important bone structure in the body, the highway that connects the brain via the nerves to every limb and part of the body and the structure that supports your entire body and balance. However, despite everything our spine does for us, countless individuals treat it with callous disregard, punishing it day in an day out.

The place this happens most is at work, where many men and women spend eight hours a day, forty hours a week, one thousand nine hundred and twenty hours a year, hunched over with bad posture putting pressure on the disks and vertebrae. Fortunately, taking some time out to asses your posture and do what you can to improve it can greatly improve matters, keeping your healthy and ache free for longer.

Contrary to popular belief, the spine is not actually designed to be straight. Instead the back bone is intended to have a slight curvature; a very subtle ‘s’ shaped swerve. It starts at the coccyx (the remnant of a tale that protrudes at the end of our spine) then curves slightly in at the small of the back, then slightly out by the shoulder blades, then forwards again at the neck where it connects to the base of the skull. Imagine your back in this shape as you sit yourself upwards. While your back is not completely vertical however, it should have a completely central centre of gravity – a line running directly through it (imagine a dollar sign: $) so that the weight from your skull is directly above your bottom.

This means that you should be sitting up straight, not slumped over the keyboard arching your upper back which puts stress on the spine, compacts the disks near the top and can result in a permanent stoop. At the same time you shouldn’t be sprawled against the back of the chair with the bottom of your spine curved against it. If you do want to lean against the back of the chair you need to have the bottom of your spine pressed right against the support as well as your upper back by the shoulder blades, but at the same time the small of your back and the neck should be slightly away from the back.

To improve this posture and remind yourself to maintain it you can tuck your feet as far as possible beneath the chair, forcing your spine upright by stretching it. You can actually buy specially designed chairs for this purpose that ‘zig-zag’ so guiding your legs beneath you. Here there is a pad for you to sit on and a pad for your shins to rest on that makes it very hard to slump or stoop. However, by forcing you into this position these chairs will often mean you have to stand up more often or grow saw from not being able to shift your position. Recommended only really for those who experience lots of problems with their back at work; not just for the average Joe.

Alternatively, rather than a particular seat, you can purchase wedges that you slot into any seat that raise the bottom of your spine so straightening your back this way. These are less restrictive and easy to bring into an office. A third less drastic option, is to use a cushion or something soft to place in the small of your back against the chair and you can buy soft cylinders specifically for this purpose.

At the same time, make sure your monitor is the correct height and distance from your face. It should be at such a height that the top of the screen is level with your eyes and the correct distance so that can read the writing on the screen without it being in your face which can cause you to lean back as headaches start to kick in. Try moving it around until your find a distance that works for you then stick to that.

As well as having the monitor at a sensible height and distance you need to ensure that it’s roughly central so that you’re not looking at it from an angle or needing to tilt your head. At the same time you need to avoid having any glare on the screen which can damage your eyes over time. To avoid this position your monitor so that it’s not opposite any windows or bright lights, preferably windows should be behind the monitor. If you continue to have difficulties with glare you can buy specially designed screen protectors that eliminate any glare. Make sure you measure the size of your monitor first and buy one that perfectly fits the screen and you should be able save your eyes from unnecessary strain.

Working in an office can also be taxing for your body in other ways, for example it can lead to repetitive strain injury (RSI) or sore wrists. One way to prevent this is to raise your wrists while writing, rather than resting them on the desk or keyboard which is far more likely to cause problems. You can buy pads specifically for resting your wrists on while writing but these should be avoided if you want to maintain proper form.

Similarly sitting in an office all day can cause problems for your feet. If you keep them motionless for too long you can get pins and needles, cramp, or in extreme cases deep vein thrombosis (though I’d hope you’d move yourself a little before it got to that point…). To prevent any such problems you can purchase boards that fit under the table, often with bobbles to massage the feet, and hinged so that you can absent mindedly rock them while you work keeping yourself in motion.

Always though you should ensure that you take a ten minute break every hour or so; staying in the same position for too long will always cause problems no matter how good your posture is. Getting up has other benefits too and will in fact increase blood flow and aid productivity. Set an alarm on your watch or phone to remind you when it’s time to take a break and visit Dave in accounting for a bit of banter.

Mack LeMouse

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