So sitting at work all day is no good for you. Duh. Now what can we do about it?

It is essential to break the cycle of repetitive strain, muscle fatigue, and pain. To do this we should recharge our muscles and take strain off our joints and discs every 20 minutes. Even if just for 10-30 seconds!

The first and most important thing to do is to stand up frequently. Micro breaks every 20 minutes are crucial to preventing the muscles from tightening.

Simply standing up and extending the lower back a few times will help. A short walk every hour also reinvigorates the back muscles. Gentle exercise has two effects – first, it brings nutrients, like oxygen, into the muscles; and second, it drains irritating toxins away from the painful area.

The UCLA Ergonomics website has plenty of advice and stretches.

The Brugger stretch is a great way to reverse the effects of poor posture: http://www.chiroweb.com/mpacms/dc/article.php?id=18210 (See Figure 5)

Brugger’s position – Sit at the front edge of a chair. Spread legs slightly. Turn your feet slightly outwards. Rest weight on legs/feet & relax abdominal muscles. Tilt pelvis forward & lift sternum up thus increase lumbar lordosis to its maximum. Turn hands outwards. Externally rotate arms. Breathe deeply for 10 breaths.

Studies have shown that lowering the height of the keyboard to or below the height of the elbow and resting the arms on the desk surface or chair armrests is associated with reduced risk of neck and shoulder problems. See page 4 for more tips.

Other studies have shown that performing some gentle neck retraction exercises for every 20 minutes of reading decreases cervical (neck) nerve compression and associated pain.

For further information try these sites:

http://www.openerg.com/dse/setup.html

http://ergonomics.ucla.edu/Howto_Workstation.html

http://www.cdc.gov/od/ohs/PDFFILES/exercises.pdf