You need this: Top 5 wellness tips for office employees

by Renita Tisha Pinto

Worried young black business woman at desk in office

Try to sit all the way back at all times during work. If necessary, move your monitor closer or make the characters larger for easy viewing. 

Have you been complaining about back pain? It can be a Musculo Skeletal Disorder (MSD).

This back problem develops overtime and can affect body muscles, joints, ligaments, tendons and nerves. Young employees in various organisations are most vulnerable to MSDs due to improper seating, especially when you sit for more than 4-5 hours at a stretch. Parag Shastry,Ergonomic Expert from Godrej Interio, helps us with ways to deal with back pain with help of ergonomics.

Wellness tip for office employees  1: Sit-up straight
Parag says – “Some people adopt the ‘slouching posture’ while working, which is very bad because over a period, it can cause MSD. This can further lead to recurring pain, numbness, tingling and stiffening of various body muscles. ” In order to avoid this problem, Parag recommends:

-Maintain the 90-90-90 (neutral) posture.
-Adjust chair height to make thigh parallel to the ground.
-Adjust armrest height to maintain relaxed shoulder position and ensure wrists are straight.
-Lock chair back in the upright position.

Wellness tip for office employees  2: Adjust your laptop stand
Though laptop stand raises the laptop screen to your eye level, you may end up bending your wrist upwards, which can cause wrist problems in the future. To maintain a straight wrist position:

Use an external keyboard: While using a laptop stand, use an external keyboard for typing. It helps in keeping your wrist in the correct position.

Take support of the desk: Keeping the external keyboard on the edge of the desk leaves your arm with support. Hence, move the keyboard slightly in front, bringing your chair closer and rest your arm on the desk.

Increase chair height appropriately: Adjust your chair height in such a manner that your arm rests completely on armrest, maintaining the 90-90-90 rule.

Wellness tip for office employees 3: Don’t be edgy
You may find yourself on the edge of your seat during a horror movie. But sitting on the edge of your chair while working on the computer places strain on back muscles and ligaments.

Parag says – “Try to sit all the way back at all times during work. If necessary, move your monitor closer or make the characters larger for easy viewing. Let the chair do its work of supporting your back so you can do your work more comfortably.”

Wellness tip for office employees 4: Avoid the ‘tuck’
If you lean forward when using the computer, you will often find your feet drifting back to rest on the chair base, or you may be tucking your feet under the chair. This ‘tuck’ pose leaves your feet without support while restricting your blood circulation.

Ideally, sit back in the chair with your legs extended to improve circulation and overall comfort. In fact, if your height is less than 5’4″, you may want to consider using a footrest to support your feet during long working hours.

Wellness tip for office employees  5: Move your body often
Parag says – “Take periodic health-breaks, because if you get too focused on a task, this will lead to a still posture, which can reduce blood flow to muscles and can increase fatigueness. Over time, it can also lead to numbness and pain. Hence, to avoid this problem, keep varying your task during the day, regularly adjust your position and flex your body to improve blood circulation. This will help to keep you energetic and active all day long.

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Read this article in Times of India

 

Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.

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