Postures to avoid injury while working long hours in front of your PC

Most of us work with computers for a long period of time at a streach. It has recently caught my attention that lot of my collegues have problems with their back and neck when positioned for a long period of time in front of the computer table. I observed that their sitting posture were not correct leading them to experince the pain. Hence it is essential that long timers who work in front of the PC need to

A comfortable working posture is one with a natural alignment of all your joints from head to toes. This method known as neutral positioning helps you reduce the stress and strain on the muscles, tendons, and skeletal system thus reducing the risks of developing a musculoskeletal disorder (MSD). If you are a person who would like to maintain neutral body postures while working at the computer workstation, then you should be considering the following instructions: -

o Ensure that your hands, wrists, and forearms are in a row, straight, and almost parallel to the floor.
o Ensure that your head and torso are in-line with head slightly bent forward, facing towards the front, and balanced.
o Ensure that your shoulders are at ease with upper arms hanging normally at the sides of your body.
o Ensure that your elbows are close to your body and bent between 90 and 110 degrees.

o The feet should be either supported by a footrest or should be relaxing on the floor.

o While leaning back or sitting in a vertical position, ensure that your back is supported fully with firm hold on the lumbosacral area.
o Your seat should be well padded in order to support your hips and thighs.
o Ensure that your knees and hips are in almost the same height with your feet slightly forward.

Even though you are positioned in the best of the postures at your workstation, it is not healthy to continue in that posture for long hours. It is ideal to change your position every now and then. The following are some tips to reduce your strain from continuing in the same posture in front of your computer.

o Your chair and backrest have to be adjusted at regular intervals.

o Your fingers, hands, arms, and torso need to be stretched periodically.

You need to stand up, stretch your back muscles, and stroll around for a few minutes now and again.

Body Postures

These body postures help in ensuring neutral body positioning.

Vertical Sitting Posture

The neck and torso of the user are more or less vertical and in a row, the thighs are almost horizontal, with vertically positioned lower legs.

Traction Posture

The legs, torso, neck, and head of the user are more or less in a row and vertical. The body weight of the user is either shared by both the legs or may elevate to a single leg.

Declined Sitting Posture

The thighs of the user are inclined, the buttocks are higher than the knee and the angle between the thighs and the torso is greater than 90 degrees. The torso is vertical or slightly stretched out and the legs are vertical.

Reclined Sitting Posture

The torso and neck of the user are straight and tilt back between 105 and 120 degrees from the thighs.

Selection and Arrangement of the Components for the Workstation

The setting of the workstation, the selection and arrangement of the chair and other accessories, and his comfort in handling all the accessories of the desktop computer are the most vital factors that help the user to maintain a neutral body position and avoid injury while working long hour in front of your PC. You need to check the following before starting to work on the system:-

o Check whether the workstation is set up well. The keyboard, the monitor, and your posture should be on a straight line so as to avoid any positional discomforts.
o Never look up at the screen. Always adjust your chair as to look down at the screen.
o The desktop should be at a convenient height with enough space for your computer and papers, if any.
o The chair should give good support to your back with height-adjusting options.
o The keyboard and the mouse mat should have a good wrist-rest.
o For those who are copy typing, have a document holder so that you dont strain your neck and head too much.

I Would be continuing with Part 2 of this series of articles later where I will mention about how to set up your desktop and other computer accessories for ergonomic computing.