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How Can You Protect Yourself From Ergonomic Hazards

An office can be full of ergonomic hazards. From fake lights, to fall risks, to outdated devices that are not ergonomically designed.

The employer can do their best to reduce injury risks. But safety in the workplace is ultimately up to us, the end user. We need to be the best advocate possible for our own ergonomic safety.

How Can You Protect Yourself From Ergonomic Hazards — This article will talk about ways that I protect myself from repetitive strain and overuse injuries (while using a computer).

Ergonomic hazards is one of the most important considerations, when creating a safe and healthy work environment.

And so today, I’m dedicating this post to talk about how you can protect yourself from ergonomic hazards.

Best Computer Posture Correction Devices

I enjoy sharing products with my readers that’ve improved my computer posture, not to mention my quality of life. I’m not compensated by any companies who make the products I’ll mention in this article. I paid my own money for all of them.

This article will talk about my favorite computer posture correction devices. 3 of them are beneficial in creating a healthy workstation setup. The other 2 are great recovery devices to use away from your working environment. But they are still directly related to improving your computer posture.

What Is The Underlying Principle Of Ergonomics In The Workplace

I used to think posture and ergonomics were the same thing. But the more I thought about it, ergonomics doesn’t just happen in the workplace. It goes home with us.

Any healthy habit that I practice, regardless if I’m at work or not, contributes to my overall health and wellness.

Therefore, many of them are variables in my computer ergonomics process.

What Is The Underlying Principle Of Ergonomics In The Workplace — I have many principles in my ergonomics process. This article will talk about all of them.

Ergonomics in the workplace is important. If I sleep poorly one night, I’ll be tired before 9am the next day. Think about how much that affects my sitting posture. This also explains why I include sleep quality as part of my ergonomics process.

Most adults spend a lot of time in the workplace. An 8-hour workday, 5 days a week, equals about 24% of our week. I want to do everything I can to be as effective as possible during that time.

To help understand that, I’ll talk about the underlying principle of ergonomics in the workplace.

Desk Job And Back Pain

When I graduated university, I couldn’t wait to get a desk job. Back then, working on a computer (to make a living) fascinated me.

I had worked some dirty jobs before I graduated. Waited tables, construction, hard physical labor, overnight shifts…

But after graduation, I could have a career where I sit in a chair and work at a desk? And I don’t have to work nights, or weekends? Sign me up!

Desk Job And Back Pain — This article talks about what caused the desk job pain I used to have. It also lists posture fixes that’ve helped me along the way.

But I had no idea how painful it can be, to sit at a computer 40 hours a week. Poor posture at a computer has caused me more pain than any physical labor job I’ve ever worked.

What Does Lumbar Support Do

Sitting for long periods of time used to break me down. Both physically and mentally. It can significantly affect the natural curve of the spine.

One of the most frustrating things to figure out was my chronic back pain. Specifically, located in my lumbar region (lower back).

What Does Lumbar Support Do — What is lumbar support and what does it do?

I learned a valuable lesson from my chiropractor years ago. He taught me about the correct position of a neutral spine. And how important it was to maintain the natural curves of the spine, especially when in a sitting posture.

Using lumbar support is a helpful way for me to maintain ergonomics when sitting in the workplace.

In this article, I’m going to talk about what lumbar support does. And how much it improves posture in my experience.

Ergonomic Modifications For Carpal Tunnel

Working on a computer for too long used to break me down, both physically and mentally. My chair and desk were a liability. Because they weren’t set up for proper ergonomics. And that led to a number of aches and pains in different parts of my body.

Carpal tunnel syndrome is one of the common effects of prolonged computer use. It’s commonly referred to as wrist and hand pain from typing.

In this article, I’m sharing a round up of ergonomic modifications I made, to reduce the risk of developing carpal tunnel syndrome.

How to Sit Up Straight While Working

Everyone wants pain-free computer posture.

But nobody knows where to start. (including me in 2011)

And that’s okay. Because you’re in the right place.

How to Sit Up Straight While Working — Understanding the natural curves of the spine played a large part in my pain-free computer posture process. Image by Eraxion via Megapixl.

The human body is very complex.

So I try to explain computer posture in the simplest terms possible.

I provide the minimal info, that will lead to the most improvements.

How to Have Good Posture at Your Desk

The majority of the employed population are required to work (while sitting at a desk) for a long period of time. Prolonged sitting and poor posture has caused me neck pain, back pain, headaches, and shoulder pain. The repetitive strain from sitting at a desk has also caused chronic tension and dysfunction in my muscles and tendons. All these not only affected my productivity at work, but also my quality of life away from my ergonomic office. Most of the factors that affected my posture were within my control. Once I learned how to correct them, they were not hard to change. But, these good posture habits took some commitment to maintain.

person using the computer to show good posture at your desk — Photo by Vojtech Okenka

How to Have Good Posture at Your Desk

Maintaining proper sitting posture is a life-long process. There are many variables to living a healthy lifestyle while sitting at a desk. Hydration, nutrition, breathing, body awareness, and self-healing are also some important variables when it comes to maintaining proper posture during a long day. I’ll get into those in more detail in other articles. Today, let’s start with how I changed some bad habits and got into a good posture position.

Sore Wrist From Typing

Typing for a long time used to cause pain and weakness in my wrists and forearms. Like many office workers, I suffered from carpal tunnel syndrome. It’s not uncommon to experience a sore wrist, both while typing plus when we leave our computer desks.

I’m dedicating this article to talk about why I used to get sore wrists from typing. I’ll also explain what to do about it, how I stopped it from hurting, and how I prevent it in the future.

Why Does it Hurt to Sit at a Computer?

We are literally just sitting there.

It’s called repetitive strain and overuse injuries. But what does that even mean?

Why Does it Hurt to Sit at a Computer? — Why does it hurt to sit at a computer? We are literally just sitting there.

This article will talk about what repetitive strain and overuse means. It will also give examples of how it happened in my personal experience. Finally, I’ll explain how I prevent those pains and injuries in the future.

Wrist Hurts From Computer Mouse

Working on computers, for long periods of time, used to break me down. I sat at a desk full-time for 11 years. I’d estimate 2,000 hours per year. So that’s at least 22,000 hours in just over a decade. It wasn’t easy to fix my computer pain. But it was attainable. I’ve fixed about 90% of my Carpal Tunnelrepetitive strain injuries caused by computer use.

It’s common to experience pain in several parts of the body. Shoulder rotator cuffs, neck, and lower back. Those come to mind first, from my personal experience.

Wrist Hurts From Computer Mouse — This article will talk about how I fixed my wrist pain that was caused by a tall, bulky computer mouse.

One of the most painful computer injuries I had was wrist pain, commonly known as carpal tunnel syndrome. It was actually one of the easier posture problems I fixed.

Repetitive movements and poor computer posture caused my wrists to hurt. Surprisingly, I actually fixed it by accident. And the wrist pain hasn’t come back since.

So today, I’m sharing a guide on how to deal with wrist pain from computer mouse use.

Why I Rotate Between Sitting, Standing, and Reclining at My Desk (for Better Posture & Energy)

Which is better, a sit desk or a stand desk?

I say, neither.

Because being able to use both is ideal.

Why I Rotate Between Sitting, Standing, and Reclining while working — If I can maintain correct elbow height, while supporting my torso and head well, I’ll sit in a reclined position similar to the one in this image. But I won’t sit like this all day. I’ll rotate working in multiple positions throughout the day. Image by Andrey Popov via Megapixl.

That’s why I choose a height-adjustable desk…

Because I like to work in different positions.

Somatic Breathwork for Computer Posture

Proper posture isn’t just about what position we work in. It’s how long we work in that position.

Repetitive strain and overuse injuries will be worse with bad posture. But tension and pain will still affect our postural muscles if we hold them activated in the same position for long periods of time (even if our posture is good).

Somatic Breathwork for Computer Posture — Somatic breathwork has been a valuable tool in my computer ergonomics practice.

The longer my work day is, the more my breathing suffers.

And when my breathing suffers, it can significantly impact my posture.

This article will talk about how I use somatic breathing for better computer posture.

How to Position Feet When Sitting at a Computer

I used to underestimate the importance of good posture, especially when it came to foot positioning. Besides, I was sitting in an office chair. I was hardly putting any weight on my feet. Does foot posture really matter? Could poor sitting posture really cause foot pain? I eventually found out the hard way. Foot positioning definitely matters.

The negative effects from poor foot posture caused multiple issues with my leg muscles and joints. Eventually, I would need 3 ankle surgeries to correct a torn tendon, bone chips, and bone spurs. All this was caused by poor foot posture while sitting in an office chair for long periods of time.

The above user’s feet on the left are a great example of the poor posture I used to have. Notice how his feet are underneath his body. I had to contract my hamstrings in order to pull my feet backward like that. Sitting with my hamstrings contracted for long periods of time led to them being very dominant over my quadriceps. The constant hamstring activation caused me to keep my knees bent so much that it overextended my quadriceps. My hamstrings got shorter and tighter. My quadriceps got longer and tighter. This caused a lot of muscle dysfunction, tension and pain.

1,000 Days Alcohol-Free: What I’ve Learned

The relationship I have with alcohol is much different than most people’s. It took me decades to figure it out.

I’ve never taken a sip of alcohol that tasted good. Alcohol was just a method for me to get a result. To meet people, to fit in, to make someone else happy, or comfortable. Whatever.

When most people drink, they relax, have fun, feel good.

I used to get those things when I drank, but only for a short window of time. It lasted a couple hours if I was lucky.

After that, alcohol had the exact opposite effect on me. Anxious, stressed, depressed. All this before I even went to sleep. Alcohol made me overanalyze everything.

Hip Discomfort While Sitting

Sitting at a desk is a compromised, vulnerable position for us to work in all day.

It’s so easy to overuse postural muscles that support our body. Any type of repetitive strain or overuse can cause an imbalance of energy. And maintaining that imbalance for long periods of time has affected me, both physically and mentally.

A lot of computer users don’t realize their hip flexors can actually be activated when sitting. I didn’t know this for many years, back when I sat with poor computer posture.

When it comes to sitting for a long time, the hips are among the most common sources of discomfort. You can ask any physical therapist that.

I’m going to talk about my personal experience with hip discomfort (caused by sitting). I’ll also give you some ideas for what you can do about it (they worked for me).

Posture Myths Exposed: Why “Sit Up Straight” and “Sitting Is the New Smoking” Are Wrong

Posture myths—it’s the BIGGEST scam in poor posture content.

And you know what it is:

“Sitting is the new smoking”
“Sit up straight”
“Do not slouch”

It’s the same recycled headlines, over and over. The writers rack up views by fear mongering. But they’ve never been stuck at a computer desk like us. 8 hours a day. 40 hours a week. 2000 hours a year. In high-stress jobs. In cut-throat industries.

Posture Myths Exposed: Why “Sit Up Straight” and “Sitting Is the New Smoking” Are Wrong — “Sitting is the new smoking” is a catchy headline and all, but what can we actually do to improve computer posture? My free eBook should be very helpful.

These myths never answer the questions…

“How do I improve posture at computer?”

“What is correct posture?”

Are Toe Socks Good For You and Do They Improve Posture

About 10 years ago, I thought toe socks were weird. But they grew on me. I’d heard multiple runners talk about how they improved their overall foot health. So I bought a few pairs. More on that later…

These days, toe socks are becoming increasingly popular in the wellness and fitness communities. My ergonomic thought process is to find as many small improvements as possible, then practice them on a daily basis.

But toe socks have not been a small improvement for me. They’ve made a huge difference to improve overall foot function.

Are Toe Socks Good For You and Do They Improve Posture — Foot position is an important variable of computer ergonomics. And anything that improves my foot health, is good for my computer posture. Not just for my feet, but throughout my legs, into my glutes and lower back.

Toe socks are more than just a weird style. They’re the most performance-enhancing clothing I’ve ever worn.

In this article, I’ll talk about my experience and the benefits of toe socks. I’ll also cover whether or not I think toe socks are good for you and your posture.

Laptop Monitor Neck Pain: Ergonomic Fixes for Better Posture

It took me 4 years to realize my mistake.

After using a laptop monitor everyday for 4 years, I finally realized it was causing neck and shoulder pain. This is because laptop monitors are too low. I would look down at my screen for 8 hours a day. Holding this poor posture all day was creating a terrible imbalance between the muscles on the front of my neck, and the muscles on the back of my neck.

Man using a laptop with bad posture | Laptop Monitor Neck Pain: Ergonomic Fixes for Better Posture — Check out the downward angle this user is looking at his laptop monitor with. This is causing multiple posture issues. These include slouching forward, forward head posture, unbalanced muscle tension, and spinal disc degeneration.

The muscles on the front of my neck shortened. The muscles on the back of my neck lengthened. This imbalance caused muscle tension, chronic pain, and dysfunction.

When it comes to office ergonomics, I want my posture to be as balanced and neutral as possible. I also want my actions to be symmetrical (except for using a mouse).

This article will share ergonomic fixes to maintain a neutral, symmetrical posture and ease neck pain while using a laptop monitor.

Ergonomic Laptop Setup: External Monitor, Keyboard and Mouse

I’ve been strictly using a laptop since 2005. A laptop is one of the most common tools people use when it comes to technology.

The ability to take it with us when we travel is super efficient. And that’s what office ergonomics is all about. It’s the study of people’s efficiency in their workplace.

Ergonomic Laptop Setup — This article will talk about what devices I use for my ergonomic laptop setup.

Laptops are also convenient when we’re working from home. Sometimes I’ll work from my standing desk. Others, I might kick back reclined on the couch, just to knock out a few action items on my laptop.

But, I make sure to maintain the natural curves in my spine while I’m reclined. Keeping a neutral spine is always important when I’m working on a laptop for long periods of time.

Laptops are lightweight, portable, and convenient to use. But its compact design can also force me to work in awkward postures.

So, today I’m sharing a guide on how to setup an ergonomic workstation with a laptop. It’ll also talk about other ergonomic devices that I use with it.