How Your Chair Can Cause Or Prevent Back Pain
As surprising as it may sound, back pain, stiffness, and other health issues in this area of the body that are related to sitting in chairs are actually more common than you may realize. However, when you really start to think about it, it does make quite a bit of sense. After all, just take into account how often you yourself sit down at any point during the day. The vast majority of people spend an average day sitting in their cars to commute to and from work, sitting at their desks for eight or nine hours a day with just a few breaks, and sitting on the couch at home to relax at the end of the day.
As you can now begin to see, sitting takes up quite a lot of our day, which is why it is so often cited as a source of health issues such as back pain and muscle soreness and stiffness, as discussed in a very informative article post by How Stuff Works. One of the most important things that we can all do in order to make sure that we are taking proper care of our backs duringthe day is by making sure that our chairs are providing us with the best ergonomic support possible in order to encourage proper posture throughout the day.
When assessing whether a chair is properly fitted for you or if it needs to be slightly adjusted, these are the things that you should be on the lookout for, and that you should keep in mind at all times. Sit in the chair or chairs that you use most often in any given day, and assess the following situations. First, are both of your feet able to reach the floor without any strain or effort on your part? If not, adjust the height of the chair. Next, examine your hips. Are they level with your knees, or higher? This is important for taking some strain off of your lower back. Your back should be able to rest against the back of the chair naturally as well. Finally, if you are facing a desk or a table, make sure that your forearms can easily rest on the arm rests of the chair. If you are looking at a computer, the screen should be at eye level, and you should not have to strain to reach the keyboard. You can always consult with a chiropractor for further information on how to protect the health of your back in your daily life.
Used under Creative Commons Licensing courtesy of Oxford Akademija