Study Finds Poor Posture At Workplace Might Lead To Spinal Injury, Cause Fatigue

Study Finds Poor Posture At Workplace Might Lead To Spinal Injury, Cause Fatigue

Poor posture while working on the computer can cause fatigue, inflated muscle tension and even injury to the vertebrae over time, a study has found. The seemingly harmless posture will even limit the flexibility to show your head, researchers aforesaid.

“When your posture is tall and erect, the muscles of your back will simply support the weight of your head and neck - the maximum amount as twelve pounds,” aforesaid Erik Peper, a professor at San Francisco State University in the US. “But when your head juts forward at a 45-degree angle, your neck acts like a fulcrum, like a long lever lifting a heavy object,” Peper said.

“Now the muscle weight of your head and neck is that the equivalent of regarding 45 pounds. It's not shocking individuals get stiff necks and shoulder and back pain,” he said.

Researchers tested the consequences of head and neck position. First, they asked eighty-seven students to sit down upright with their heads properly aligned on their necks and asked them to show their heads. Then the students were asked to “scrunch” their necks and simply their heads forward. 92 % reported having the ability to show their heads a lot of farther once not scrunching. Within the second test, 125 students scrunched their necks for 30 seconds. Afterward, 98 reported some level of pain in their head, neck or eyes.

The researchers conjointly monitored twelve students with diagnostic procedure instrumentation and located that skeletal muscle tension inflated within the scrunched, head forward position.

So if you suffer from headaches or neck and backaches from computer work, check your posture and ensure your head is aligned on top of your neck, as if held by an invisible thread from the ceiling. “You can do something about this poor posture very quickly,” said Peper. To increase body awareness, Peper advised purposefully replicating the head-forward/neck scrunched position.

“You will exaggerate the position and experience the symptoms. Then once you end up doing it, you'll be able to become aware and stop,” he said. alternative solutions he offers embrace increasing the font on your computer screen, wearing computer reading glasses or placing your computer on a stand at eye level, all to make the screen easier to read without strain.

Top Headlines

No stories found.
Sentinel Assam
www.sentinelassam.com