Business Biscotti Blog

 In the first part of this article I'd like to talk about the hazards of working in the office with regards to back pain whether it is in the lower or the upper back. The desk based posture is completely against how the spine is meant to perform because of the stationary nature of the posture and the curves that the spine is forced to adopt.

Sitting in a chair for long periods of time with a poor posture can result in a change of the spinal curves, this may result in nerve impingement or “trapped nerves” as the vertebral joints begin to wear each other down over time. Changes in different areas of the spine can cause various symptoms as the following describes.

If your computer monitor is angled horizontally at the same level as your eyes, your neck is required to arch backwards which can cause the joints at the back of the neck to rub against each other. Over a long period of time this can damage the surfaces as they wear each other down and compress the nerve that exits the joint on each side. Symptoms of nerve impingement in the neck include pain, “pins and needles”, numbness and weakness in the hand and arm but also in the shoulder and neck.

This is the second part of our "Perfect posture in the workplace and how to achieve it" blog post. The first part can be accessed here: Perfect posture in the workplace and how to achieve it (Part 1).

Preventing lower back pain through exercise is critical. Owing to the stationary posture of the majority of the desk-based workforce, the muscles of the core don't receive the stimulation which means that the force that's transferred between the legs and upper torso has to go through the lumbar spine (lower spine) as it is the most stable structure. This makes the lower back particularly vulnerable to nerve impingements (in particular Sciatica, which is an irritation of the Sciatic nerve), disc bulges, disc prolapses and muscle spasm. These conditions can be caused by something as simple as misjudging the step off a pavement to as big as lifting a heavy weight improperly. The best prevention of lower back back is by using a Gym Ball/Swiss Ball. The reason behind this is to stay upright your core muscles must contract and after a short period of time will tone up, helping to distribute force between your upper torso to your legs around your trunk, taking the pressure away from the lower back (if you lean forward on a chair, you stay upright but if you lean forward on a Gym Ball, you fall on the floor!).

Computer users who use a keyboard for more than three hours a day are at risk of Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) if they don't follow a regime of stretches in order to prevent the nerve impingement that can take place at the wrist. RSI is also known as Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. If the muscles in front of the hand become too tight from heavy keyboard and mouse use they can cause the ligament that passes over the “tunnel” that the wrist bones form to shorten which compresses the ulnar and median nerve. As with nerve impingement in the neck, the symptoms typically comprise of “pins and needles”, numbness and weakness (in severe cases, muscle wasting) but in this case, just in the affected hand.

With all the talk of how important it is to get enough protein in the diet, many of my vegetarian clients worry that their diets might not be providing all the protein they need.