LET’S FIX THAT …
The covid revolution for home workers happened at a stupidly rapid pace and left many scrabbling to pull a home working set up together which has never been reviewed since. If you have times during your day with back or neck ache, cracks, twinges, needing to stretch your back out, taking painkillers, read on and make some positive changes.
1. Bad Posture: Why ‘Sitting Up Straight’ Isn’t Enough
When my back hurts I try to sit up straight!
But posture is more than just keeping your back upright. Sitting incorrectly for hours puts an increased strain on all the tissues and structures in your spine.
Slouching and rounding your shoulders, moves your head forward. This shifts your centre of gravity, increasing back and neck tension.
Research has suggested that
For every inch your head moves forward, the pressure on your cervical spine increases by 10 lbs (4.5 kg).
This can lead to cervical disc compression, nerve irritation, and chronic back pain.
If you sit upright without resting on your backrest, your back muscles get fatigued, your upper spine curves and you have increased disc pressure – probably not great if sustained
Without keeping the spine’s natural S-curve, your muscles work overtime, leading to tightness and discomfort.
🔹 Fix it:
Does your chair fit you? Do you know how to adjust it? Use a lumbar cushion or adjust your chair’s built-in support. Keep your ears, shoulders, and hips aligned to reduce spinal strain. If you feel tension creeping in, reset your posture by standing up and stretching.
2. Perching on the Edge of Your Chair
It’s so easy to perch on the front of your seat, thinking you’re maintaining good posture. In reality, you have no back support, so your back muscles work overtime.
Your erector spinae muscles (which run either side of your spine) keep your trunk upright for hours. They work even harder if your abdominal muscles aren’t strong enough. This leads to muscle fatigue, stiffness, and excessive compression on the spinal discs.
Perching also tilts your pelvis forward. It shifts your weight onto your thighs rather than through your hips and backrest. This creates constant tension in the hip flexors, which can pull on the lumbar spine and worsen your pain.
🔹 Fix it:
Sit all the way back in your chair, allowing the backrest to support you. You want to feel that you can relax your back and let the seat take the weight. If the seat pan (the bit you sit on) is too deep, use a cushion or rolled-up towel behind your lower back to shorten it or look at changing your chair.
3. Leaning Forward Because of No Armrests
If your chair lacks armrests, your arms have nowhere to rest or you tend to rest slumped on the desk instead of sitting back in your chair. This may seem minor but without support that weight transfers to your neck, shoulders, and upper back causing tension and pain.
Leaning forward also shifts your body weight away from the chair and reduces back support. Over time, this posture leads to rounded shoulders, forward head posture, and mid-back stiffness.
🔹 Fix it:
Change to a chair with built-in armrests.
4. Chair Too Low for Your Desk
If your chair is too low, you’ll be forced to hunch your shoulders so that your hands can reach your keyboard. This can lead to trapezius overuse, neck pain, and even nerve compression in the shoulders.
Sitting too low also puts your hips at a downward angle, causing your lower back to flatten. This increases disc pressure and makes you more likely to slouch.
Tall people really suffer with this issue and need to find a desk height and ergonomic chair suitable for their height
🔹 Fix it:
Adjust your chair height so your elbows are at a 90-degree angle when typing. If your chair doesn’t adjust, use a seat cushion to raise your sitting height.
Consider a sit to stand desk
5. Not Using the Backrest
If your chair has a backrest but you’re not using it, you’re forcing your spinal muscles to hold you upright for hours. Over time, this leads to chronic lower back fatigue and tension in the mid-back.
Backrests are designed to support the natural curve of your spine. When you don’t use them, your lower back may flatten out or round forward, increasing lumbar disc pressure.
🔹 Fix it:
Sit back so your back is fully supported. Adjust the chair to a comfortable recline aiming for your knees to be slightly lower than your hips
6. No Lumbar Support
The lumbar spine has a natural inward curve. Without support, your lower back flattens. This leads to increased disc pressure and overstretched spinal ligaments.
This position shortens your hip flexors, creating muscle imbalances and back pain.
🔹 Fix it:
Use a lumbar cushion, a rolled-up towel, or an ergonomic chair with built-in lumbar support to keep the natural curve of your lower back. Relax on to it to let your back muscles have a rest.
7. Previous Injuries Worsening from Poor Ergonomics
If you’ve had a herniated disc, sciatica, or a past muscle strain, poor desk posture can reactivate old injuries and cause flare-ups. Sitting incorrectly for long periods of time can certainly aggravate an old condition.
🔹 Fix it:
Make small ergonomic adjustments to reduce stress on previous injury sites.
Final Thoughts: Fix the Cause, Not Just the Symptoms
Back pain from home working isn’t random. It’s caused by small, repeated movements that stress your spine. Painkillers and stretching might help temporarily. But the real solution is fixing your workstation, movement habits, and posture.
Start Today:
- Adjust your chair, screen, and desk height. Check out this simple guide to walk you through a better set up Posture_Guidance_2025.pdf
- Use proper back and arm support to prevent muscle fatigue.
- Strengthen your core muscles to improve long-term spinal health.
- Get up and Move regularly
- Consider a simple gadget to help you stretch more regularly, we love the optineck and it is available from us – give us a call. The OptiNeck Balance Wedge | Optineck
If we can help in any way to get you back on track with treatment for back and neck pain, call now – we have physios, chiropractor, Pilates, acupuncture, sports therapy and conditioning programmes….everything you need to live a life without back pain! Come and see the experts.
