Dr's Casebook: Think about posture when working at the computer

Dr Keith Souter writes: But I also spend a lot of time away from the desk jotting notes and writing with a pencil in notebooks.

Of the two activities I much prefer pencil and notebook writing.

I’ll come back to this next week, because there is interesting research about it, but for now I just want to consider posture when working at the computer.

When you are standing, the spine can easily support the ten to 12 pounds that the head weighs.

When you are sitting and your head is jutted forwards to as much as a 45 degree angle, your neck acts like a fulcrum with a long lever lifting an object.

The effect of this is that the muscles weight of your head and neck is increased to about 45 pounds.

In a study, 87 students were asked to sit upright with their heads properly aligned on their necks so that there was no discomfort.

They were then asked to turn their heads.

Next, they were asked to scrunch their necks down and jut their heads forwards and then turn their heads.

They found that 92 per cent could turn their heads further when the neck was not scrunched and the head jutted forward.

This was repeated, but this time they had to scrunch the neck position for 30 seconds first.

This time 98 per cent reported some transient pain in the head, neck or eyes.

They also did electomyograph (EMG) readings of the trapezius muscle, the large shoulder muscles.

This showed significant tension when the muscles were scrunched.

You should keep monitoring your posture when sitting at the screen.

Imagine your head suspended by a thread from the ceiling to get into the correct position and keep checking it.

Also, use a larger font, use computer glasses or lift your computer on a stand so that you look at it straight ahead.

Other research from the USA has shown that regular iPad and tablet users are even more likely to have pain problems.

Time is the main factor, but females are two times more likely to have pains than males.

The C-shape posture that your spine gets into, especially if using a device on your lap is again the main issue.