Take a look at anyone’s resting shoulder blade position from behind the next time you are at the pool or at the beach. If you look closely, you may notice that many people’s shoulder blades, or scapulae, do not sit evenly. Two common observations to see are one shoulder blade sitting higher than the other […]
Sitting All Day & Experiencing Lower Back Pain?
Sitting at work every day and experiencing lower back pain? The following list outlines exactly what happens to your lower back with sitting, and what you can do about it. 1. During sitting, most people will eventually fall into a posterior pelvic tilt (as shown below). What to do? Take a look at how your […]
Keyboard Wrist Supports? No Thanks.
I don’t like keyboard wrist supports, those long slips of fancy-padded rubber that sit directly in front of keyboard trays. Here is why. The ideal position for your wrists and fingers to work in while typing should be “neutral,” neither flexed nor extended. This is best done with the wrists hovering ever so slightly above […]
Road Trip Tips from a Physical Therapist
The weather is getting nice and people are going to start wanting to drive out a few hours to get to the beach or to the mountains to go camping. It’s road trip time! Any physical therapist would request that an office worker not sit for more than a 1-2 hour duration, and the same […]
Poor Posture at Work? Do Something About It!
Any patient with a repetitive overuse injury who walks into our clinic will be asked the following question upon evaluation, “What does your work desk set-up look like?” Countless bouts of thumb tendonitis, back pain, elbow epicondylitis, and other maladies could be avoided if employers only took the time to make basic modifications to computer […]
Is My Office Chair Too Large?
Too many people sit in a chair all day that is simply too large. Here are some simple things that you can check to see if you need to consider “upgrading” your chair. 1. Both of your feet should comfortably be touching the ground. Dangling feet are a very bad thing, as you are losing […]
Are Laptops Worth the Convenience?
A patient of mine works for a large consulting firm here in Washington DC, where long hours and significant time spent traveling are the norm. Upon visiting this patient’s office for an ergonomic consultation one thing struck me as odd: nearly all of the employees at this firm were using laptop computers rather than desktop […]