Oakville Chiropractor: Best Computer Posture and Ergonomics

Our Oakville chiropractor says correct computer posture is difficult to achieve. If you have been to our clinic, you have most likely heard Dr. Steve telling patients to get off their laptops or set up there work station better!  The human body was not meant to sit at a computer for 7-10 hours per day. Doing so makes maintaining proper posture a real challenge. Our Oakville Chiropractor estimates 75% of patients at the clinic work at a computer for at least 7.5 hours a day. Most of them start the work day with proper posture only to falter later in the day. This improper posture is killing our backs, causing neck pain, headaches, shoulder pain, tennis elbow, carpal tunnel and numbness / tingling.

Most important variables for correct computer posture and ergonomics…

Oakville Chiropractic Computer Posture and ergonomics

1. Use your arm rests. They should just slide under your keyboard so that your wrists stay neutral and your shoulders are not hunched.
2. If you use multiple monitors, display them on top of each other, and not side by side. This way you are not forced to look left or right, but up and down, which your seat can be adjusted for.
3. Do not sit cross-legged. Keep both of your feet on the ground.
4. Keep your monitor at about eye level.
5. Finally make sure to get up every 25 minutes and move.

Working from home in Oakville on a laptop during COVID-19?

Lift the laptop onto a box or a phone book ;). Get yourself a stand-alone mouse and keyboard from amazon and now you have a work station. Posture and ergonomics are so important for computer work! Do not get stuck looking down at your coffee table from your couch or sitting hunched over in bed on Zoom meetings! During the Covid outbreak Dr. Steve and Dr. Jenn have been seeing an alarming number of computer related injuries. Posture can cause neck and upper back pain that lead to headaches, low back pain from bad posture, and even an increase in tennis elbow from patients using the touch pad and not the mouse.

How to set your laptop up for proper ergonomics!

Set your workstation up like Dr. Jenn if you do not have a proper stand alone computer.

How to set up a laptop so it doesn’t kill you!

1. Buy yourself a stand alone keyboard and mouse that you will attach to your laptop
2. Lift your laptop up to eye level with a box or some pillows or a lazy dog.
3. Sit at a table, we can not emphasize this enough. Do not sit sprawled out on the couch, on the floor, in a child’s chair etc.
4. Set up a standing desk. Still use a box for the laptop (make it your monitor) and still use the stand alone keyboard and mouse. Please wear supportive shoes while you work at your standing desk.
5. Move around. Get up. Work less but faster. During Covid we have had a massive increase in patients, including children with upper back and neck pain. This is caused from a combination of phone, text neck and horrible laptop position.

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