Solutions to postural myths among office workers
Helix is here to give you the best advice for your working posture.
‘’WHAT POSTURE IS THE BEST AT DESK WORK TO PREVENT OR REDUCE MY NECK AND BACK PAIN?’’- one of the most common questions being asked at Helix. For years it has been assumed that some postures are so-called ‘’bad’’, such as the renowned poking chin, rounded shoulders, slouched lower back, which are significantly associated with office pain conditions, mostly neck and back pain. Look at the common postures that we blame as a problem:
Let's be scientific and look into the evidence
Research in recent years gave us whole new ideas on the relationship between ‘’bad’’ postures and pain conditions. Large amount of current evidence found there’s weak correlation between what we called ‘’bad’’ postures and pain, in both sitting and standing positions. These studies added up with our clinical experiences. We saw clients who got rounded back at office work moving very well with pain-free as well as clients who sit with poking chins having perfect neck mobility and having no issues with sustained desk jobs. There are potential bias and inaccuracy in ‘snapshotting’ postural alignment and blaming every pain on it. Postures are adaptive and variable among individual, depending on work nature and personal habit. Having a different posture from a perfectly straight alignment does not contribute to your neck and back pain directly. More importantly, we’re not being designed to adopt a perfectly straight posture all day long either as our spine is more engineered to movement.
The Best Posture Is Your Next Posture
These brings us back to the key question that everyone is interested: What’s the best posture for me? Unfortunately, there’s ‘no one size fits all’ nor a ‘golden rule’ regarding posture. Human bodies are engineered to move but not sit or stand for a whole day.
THE BEST POSTURE IS YOUR NEXT POSTURE.
Summarising available literatures and clinical practices, ‘variability’ is the key. Get rid of the mindset of ‘bad’ postures and try adding the following small habit into your office work:
Change your posture every 2 hours, either a quick stretch or a walk to toilet.
Most clients find it refreshing, with a more relaxed and less sore back and neck throughout the day. Take this first step towards trusting your spine.
Don't be obsessed with postural myths, use movement to get your best working postures.
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MOVE BETTER. FEEL BETTER. LOOK BETTER.