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The good reflexes to adopt at the office to avoid back pain

When you spend hours sitting in front of a screen, it often happens that you have back and neck pain at the end of the day. In question, the fact of having the head tilted towards the screen to read, repetitive movements (with the mouse, the keyboard, etc.), a bad sitting position, not paying attention when carrying or lifting objects or just not getting up often enough. Here are the good reflexes to adopt to avoid these evils.

Adapt your workspace

If we work on a screen, it should be at eye level, so that we don't have to bend over to read. Specifically, the bottom of it should line up with our chin. Our feet must be flat on the ground and our knees form a 90° angle, otherwise the seat is too high or too low. Our arms rest on the desk or on the armrests.

Take regular breaks

Non-smokers know it:it's easy to "forget" to take breaks and find yourself spending 3 hours in front of the screen without realizing it. We therefore force ourselves to take regular breaks, every hour if possible, in order to get up and change position. Along the way, we take the opportunity to stretch a little, if only by shrugging our shoulders and “rolling” them backwards, stretching our neck, etc. And we also relieve the eyes since we leave the screen for a few minutes to look into the distance.

Be careful when carrying things

Carrying things (whether light or heavy) in the wrong position is one of the common causes of back pain. We therefore take the following reflexes:we do not bend over by forcing our backs, we bend our knees and keep our backs straight, and we get up keeping our backs straight; when you carry a heavy object, you keep it as close as possible against you (=avoid carrying it at arm's length); we take the time to lift a heavy object. Finally, we don't hesitate to ask colleagues for help, it's less cumbersome!

Here are 3 reflexes to put in place immediately. If, however, neck and back pain are recurrent, do not hesitate to consult your doctor!