Ever wonder why you have chronic pain after a day at the computer?
Back, neck, shoulder pain…
🤕 I did too…
Until I dug into what 20,000+ hours hunched over a keyboard was doing to me.
This article will talk about different computer-related injuries. Then, it’ll talk about how to decrease those injuries with healthy computer ergonomic habits.
Quick disclaimer: This article is not professional medical advice. It’s based off my personal experience and opinions. For years, my poor computer posture caused muscle tension, inflammation, and chronic pain. Bad posture also decreased my mental clarity, energy level, and work productivity.
All the desk worker health tips I write about are directly related to improving posture at a computer. We are our own primary caretakers. Do your research. Make good decisions. And be the best advocate possible for your own healthcare.
Computer-Related Injuries and Healthy Ergonomics Habits
❌ Computer-Related Injuries
Here are 4 main categories of computer-related injuries.
1️⃣ ❌ Excessive muscle tension
In my opinion, this is the biggest problem of a sedentary lifestyle. Because it’s the main trigger that causes all the other computer-related injuries.
Poor posture causes pain. But what causes poor posture?
Excessive muscle tension does. It overworks our tendons. Which pull our bones and joints out of alignment.
And what causes excessive muscle tension? Working in the exact same position for long periods of time (especially at a computer).
2️⃣ ❌ Tendonitis
Muscles are connected to tendons, which are connected to bones.
When a muscle keeps getting tighter, it eventually overextends the tendon, which gets inflamed.
This is why we often feel pain at a joint. Because the tendon is connected to a bone, often at a joint. This is the effect of the problem.
The cause of my pain is often found in the tight muscle.
This is why I’m so passionate about treating the muscle as the source of the pain, instead of treating the location of the pain (often the joint).
3️⃣ ❌ Joint dysfunction
Tight hamstrings and overextended quadriceps caused major knee and ankle dysfunction for me.
Slouching forward caused a tight chest. Which led to excessive internal rotation and dysfunction of both my shoulder joints.
4️⃣ ❌ Spinal disc degeneration
Spinal disc degeneration happens when we slouch forward for long periods of time. The soft discs between the vertebrae in our spine either tear, or get crushed.
I learned years ago that I had Stage 1 spinal disc degeneration from slouching forward at a computer.
It can’t be reversed, so I work hard to make sure it doesn’t get worse.
I do this by maintaining a neutral, balanced spine, with the natural curves intact. I practice this good posture position as much as possible, especially when I’m working at my computer.
✅ Healthy Computer Ergonomics Habits
Now that we know muscle tension is the trigger for poor posture, tendonitis, and joint dysfunction, how can we decrease our muscle tension?
Posture is how we hold our bodies at our workstation.
Ergonomics is any healthy habit that improves our efficiency in the workplace.
Posture happens at our desk.
Ergonomics can happen at our desk. But it goes with us when our workday is over. It follows us to the gym, the kitchen, even into the bedroom.
Here are some ergonomic ways to decrease our excessive muscle tension (caused by sitting at a computer).
1️⃣ ✅ Eat real foods.
Clean, healthy food is medicine. I stopped eating fast food and seed oils in 2022. They’re ultra-processed, sometimes containing dozens of ingredients.
Instead, I cook real food with a minimal amount of ingredients. A lot of red meat, eggs, veggies, fruit, and healthy animal fats.
I don’t sacrifice taste to eat clean. All the foods I cook taste good. Definitely better than the fast foods I used to eat before 2022.
2️⃣ ✅ Practice a consistent sleep schedule.
The earlier in the workday we get tired, the quicker our muscles tighten. And the quicker our posture suffers.
Since I started sleeping consistently from 9:30pm to 5:30am every night, I’ve noticed multiple health benefits.
These include faster muscle recovery, better computer posture, more energy, improved gut health, and improved mental clarity.
3️⃣ ✅ Hydrate with clean water that’s high in minerals.
I bought a reverse osmosis water filter that goes on my countertop. It cleans out almost all impurites.
But it also filters out healthy minerals.
That’s why I remineralize my water before drinking. I add things to my water like mineral sea salt, electrolyes, or amino acids.
4️⃣ ✅ Practice breathwork.
Stress and poor posture at a computer used to take a beating on my shallow, lack of breathing.
I’ve taken classes and read books about breathwork.
I’d summarize what I’ve learned by saying this:
- I want to slow the rate of my breathing down, which ironically means taking less breaths.
- But this will increase the amount of air in my lungs.
- It will also increase the amount of time that air spends in my lungs.
- I also want to breathe through my nose as much as possible, both inhale and exhale.
- I save mouth breathing for when I really need it, which is during high-intensity physical activity.
📝 Summary
Working in the same computer posture for long periods of time causes excessive muscle tension.
This tension leads to tendonitis, joint dysfunction, and spinal disc degeneration.
To minimize my muscle tension, I practice healthy computer ergonomics habits.
These include eating real foods, sleeping consistently, drinking quality mineral water, and practicing breathwork.
These health tips may or may not occur at our office desk.
But they’re all directly related to how good (or bad) our computer posture is.
THANKS FOR YOUR INTEREST IN COMPUTER POSTURE.
If you’ve read this far, congratulations! You’re taking valuable steps to reduce computer-related injuries by improving your posture. That’s something to be very proud of!
If you liked this article on computer-related injuries and healthy ergonomic habits, check out my free ebook titled 3 Ways to Improve Computer Posture Immediately!
>>> Click here to download your free copy
This ebook is a great supplement to the article you just read. In this ebook, you’ll learn 3 of the most painful, poor computer posture mistakes. Then, you’ll learn how to fix those mistakes immediately with 3 simple changes to your ergonomic computer desk setup.
Go to SittingPosture.com/ebook to learn more.
Take care,
Todd Bowen
