Pain At Your Workstation: Why & How You Should Take Action

How many hours a day do you end up sitting?

Odds are, it’s probably much more than you spend standing or lying down. As a result of our bodies being kept in a seated posture for such prolonged periods of time, musculoskeletal pain or discomfort are the most common health issue faced by desk-bound workers. Thus, even on a great office chair, without proper posture habits and ergonomic care, our bodies are forced to adapt to unnatural conditions.

This is what leads to musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), which manifest as pain or discomfort in areas such as the lower back, neck, shoulders, wrists, knees, etc..

The longer we ignore these issues, the more damaging they can become to our bodies. Not only does this disrupt our daily activities in the office, but they can also become debilitating to our personal lives. Musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) have become the first cause of absenteeism at work!

Identifying Symptoms

Here is a non exhaustive list of common MSD symptoms that can result from prolonged poor posture and a less than optimal ergonomic workstation:

Sciatica:
This condition can be caused by a herniated disc, but also by the sustained contraction of the piriformis muscle. In this case, poor ergonomics and bad habits have to be eliminated, e.g. sitting on hard surfaces for extended periods, aka. plastic or wooden chairs. This is why a good office chair is padded!
I have a video on YouTube that details how you can relieve your piriformis muscle and sciatica with some simple stretches.
Watch it entirely as I also cover the causes of pain in these areas. Watch the video here.

Lower Back Pain: Often a direct result of prolonged slouching or slumping in your chair, lower back pain can become chronic.
Since pain in the lower back can have multiple causes related to how you sit, I recommend checking out my YouTube channel where I cover different types of lower back pain and share exercises to help reduce it. Watch the video here.

Neck Pain: Typically manifesting as stiffness or tension, neck pain is often caused by forward head posture and/or neck extension during screen time and other activities.
If you frequently experience neck pain while working, one of the exercises you may want to try out is this one: Watch the video here.

Headaches: While stress is often considered the primary cause of headaches, forward head posture can exacerbate tension in your neck and shoulder muscles and in your upper cervical spine, leading to headaches and migraine.
While I can’t cure your day-to-day stress, I can show you some exercises that might help relieve this tension. Watch the video here.

Shoulder Pain: Tension or tightness in the shoulders when you are at the office can typically be caused by a wrong desk setup (e.g., desk too high, keyboard or mouse too far away, or resting on your forearms).
In many cases, shoulder and wrist pain are byproducts of working on your keyboard for prolonged periods. If this sounds familiar, this video might be of some help. Watch the video here.

This information will help improving your seated posture (and overall office posture). But there are many other variables that need to be accounted for as well, something that no article or video can do.

This is why I’ve created a simple questionnaire designed to offer tips that will help you improve the way you use your office chair and adjust your workstation setup.

I highly recommend giving it a try and sharing it with colleagues who also experience posture related pain or discomfort at their workstation:
https://ergoh-conseil.typeform.com/self-assessment

This is a 100% free self-assessment tool aimed at making your life less painful and your office hours more sustainable. It’s part of my contribution to a world with less pain.