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Webb Physiotherapists Inc
Rivonia Sport and Physio Centre
Deck area, Euro Centre | 363 Rivonia Boulevard, Rivonia | South Africa
The Wellness Centre Bryanston | 17 Eaton Road, Bryanston | South Africa
PO Box 1947, Gallo Manor, 2052, South Africa
Voice: +27 11 803 5725/27 | Fax: +27 11 803 5730 | +27 11 840 5358 (Bryanston)
email:

We endeavour to treat each patient as if they were our only patient. To provide every patient with excellent care and the best service we possibly can - ensuring that we have at our disposal every idea, technique or method in order to achieve this end.
Ergonomics
The workplace where you spend a large proportion of your time, needs to be assessed and set up so that it is maximally healthy for your spine. The computer needs to be at eye level, and the chair placed directly in front of it and adjusted to the correct height. You may need to have a custom chair for your specific needs. All the components of an office need to be correctly placed, and our ergonomic advice will guide you, based on a visit to your office, photo's, or on information you give.

What is Ergonomics?

The word is derived from the Greek words ‘ergon’ and ‘namos’, meaning ‘Work Law.’ It is concerned with adapting the workplace to meet the physical and mental capabilities of the worker, and its aim is to maximise the compatibility between the individual, the task at hand and the work environment to promote human performance and health.
 

Left: Good posture. Note that the shoulders are back and down.

Right: Poor posture, usually due to continuous postural strain. The chest is slumped down towards the stomach, whilst the neck and head assume the ‘yuppie chin-poke’ posture.

How should I be Sitting and Why?

  • your weight should be evenly distributed through your ‘sitting bones’ (or ischial tuberosities) and thighs.

  • your feet should be on the floor.

  • you shouldn’t slouch - besides ‘squashing’ your lungs and decreasing their capacity, you are giving yourself a hunch back and a chin-poke posture. This puts strain on your spine and ligaments as you are ‘hanging’ on them in a sustained and unnatural position. If this is done repetitively, your joints will eventually stiffen up in this position, and your muscles will change their length to suit. Thus you will have slowly changed your posture over a few years. Accompanying this change are headaches, muscle spasms, trigger points, back ache and even disc prolapses.

Get into the habit of changing your position regularly, shifting your vision from the screen and stretching backwards to keep your spine healthy.

How Should my Office be Arranged?

CHAIR
  • mobile base
  • high back that comes up just below your arm pit, allowing free arm movement · the height should be adjustable for good back support.
  • the back should lean 10 degrees back so that you can lean  against it with comfort, and thus decrease the muscular  strain on your back.
  • curved/shaped arm rests that are ideally ‘half length’, enabling your chair to be pulled near to your desk
  • the seat should support your entire thigh, but it should not  touch the back of your knee
  • your feet should be flat on the ground
  • the chair should be able to swivel, so that you can face the desk/computer/telephone directly when you are using these.

 

  • These examples of chairs(right) would be ergonomically
     suitable for most sedentary desk occupations

COMPUTER
· The screen should be 15 degrees below normal eye level
· The screen should be positioned directly in front of you
· The keyboard should be low enough so that you don’t have to cock your wrists. (a wrist supporting cushion can be used to elevate the hands slightly).
· The mouse should be close enough so that you don’t have to stretch your arm out.

TELEPHONE
· NEVER hold the phone between your ear and your shoulder!!!
· If you spend most of your time conversing telephonically, it is advisable to obtain a mobile/hands-free model.
 

WINDOWS AND LIGHTING
· window should be 90 degrees to computer screen
· overhead lights should be directly above you
 

You need to give yourself optimum stability with minimum constraint, and make sure that your work environment and habits are not damaging your body. It is, after all, the place where you are spending most of your life.

 How Should I sleep?

The way in which you sleep can also affect your neck and back. There is generally no ‘best position’, but avoid sleeping flat on your stomach as it forces your neck to remain in an extreme rotated position for an extended period of time.
If you are a stomach sleeper, do not use a pillow under your head. Wean yourself off your stomach by placing a pillow lengthways under one shoulder and hip, and then gradually build up that support until you are lying on your side. Don’t use a solid foam pillow - it does not allow your head to sink in, and thus your neck has no support.

Don’t sleep on a sagging mattress. It will leave your head out of alignment with your body.

Try to keep your head in a horizontal position such that your neck is supported and your chin is not jutting out nor tucked down. Relax your shoulders and pull them away from your ears - this will help to reduce tension build-up and help you to feel rested.
 

COMPILED BY
KERRY CONNELLAN
(BSc Physio WITS)
 

For more information or advice, please call (011)803-5725.