Postural Office Worker Pain
About
A very common condition, particularly after the COVID 19 pandemic. Many employees were forced to work from home where their workstations were not ergonomically set up correctly. To add to this, average break times when working from home are significantly less than when working in the office.
For every inch of forward head posture, it can increase the weight of the head on the spine by an additional 10 pounds.” Kapandji, Physiology of Joints, Vol 3.
How to reduce office worker middle back pain?
It’s 1pm and you’ve been feeling good for the first part of your work day; energy levels are high and productivity is strong. Unfortunately, for no apparent reason, your middle back and neck start to ache. You’re beginning to find it difficult to focus, productivity becomes almost impossible and a tension headache is looming.
Does this sound all too familiar? Being a Chiropractor in Melbourne where a large percentage of the population are office workers, I often see my patients presenting with these familiar symptoms and the root cause of the problem is extended periods of sitting.
The majority of people who work in an office, spend 8-10 hours a day sitting. This combined with poor desk ergonomics and poor posture results in middle back pain. Every centimetre your head stoops closer to the screen, your neck, middle, and lower back discs/muscles are being put under excessive strain. This spinal load is the equivalent of doing a 20 kg deadlift, 8 hours a day… 5 days a week! This can be detrimental to your long term spinal health!
However, it’s not all doom and gloom; there are easy postural techniques which can protect your muscles and spine. First and foremost, it is important that your chair facilitates the natural curves of your spine, particularly in the lower back/lumbar area. If your chair isn’t particularly supportive then you can purchase lumbar support, or use a rolled up towel. You will find that this causes the weight distribution in your spine and torso to transfer to the back of your chair, opposed to inclining forward. The result is a spinal column with an even distribution of weight, and relaxed neck, middle and upper back muscles.
If you suffer from postural strain in the afternoon you are probably sitting down for far too long with little to no breaks. The World Health Organisation recommends you stand up and move around every 20-25 minutes from seated office work. I’m sure you’re thinking this will affect productivity, however, there are alternative solutions to relieve your postural office strain.
Installing a hydraulic workstation is a great option so standing and sitting can be varied every 30-45 minutes at your computer. This is the gold standard workstation environment. If your workplace (like many workplaces) won’t fork out the several thousand dollars for you to have a standing/sitting hydraulic workstation then you can use some yellow pages, sturdy boxes or a chair to stack up your computer to standing height. Just make sure the chair doesn’t have wheels.
I often prescribe this simple, yet effective exercise to my patients. You can do this daily to help activate the muscles around your shoulder blades that are commonly weak in office workers. It’s called the ITY exercise. Simply lie on your stomach and with your arms make an “I’, followed by a “T” and finish with a “Y”. “Think Village People- YMCA” to remember this one. Hold each position for 2 seconds and do 10 repetitions of each letter.
I hope you find these tips helpful. Should you find yourself still experiencing pain, feel free to use our online booking system or call 9484 9185 to make an appointment.
Kind Regards,
Andrew Cunningham
Chiropractor, Clinical Pilates Instructor & Personal Trainer
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Our Clinic 
Postural Office Worker Pain Chiropractor Preston & Massage Therapy Preston.
We house the best Chiropractors in Preston and massage in Preston that help Postural Office Worker Pain.
We provide Chiropractic and massage therapy to all local Preston residents with Postural Office Worker Pain and surrounding communities including Fairfield, Northcote, Heidelberg, Pascoe Vale, Coburg, Ivanhoe, Heidelberg Heights, Reservoir, Thomastown & Thornbury.
Local Chiro & Massage servicing the Preston, Thornbury, Reservoir, Northcote, Pascoe Vale and Coburg areas.
Clinic Locations
We have two locations:
Contact Us
You can book an appointment online here:
Trading Hours
Our clinics are open the following hours:
- Weekdays: 8am – 9pm
- Saturdays: 7.30am – 6pm
- Sundays: 9am – 6pm
Health Insurance
We have a HICAPS terminal onsite that can apply real time rebates for Australian private health insurance funds.
Service Area For Postural Office Worker Pain Chiro
We provide Chiropractic care to all local Preston residents and surrounding communities including Fairfield, Northcote, Heidelberg, Pascoe Vale, Coburg, Ivanhoe, Heidelberg Heights, Reservoir, Thomastown & Thornbury.
Your Postural Office Worker Pain Relief Experience 
Located close to the border of Preston and Thornbury, Advanced Health Chiropractic provides outstanding and holistic chiropractic, massage and clinical pilates care in a warm and inviting space.
New Patients
- Early Morning and Late Appointments
- Long 30- 45 minute Chiro consultation times
- Australian Olympic team massage therapist working on site
- Massage appointments starting at $60.00
- Weekend Appointments
- Our Chiropractor in Preston treats the root causes of Postural Office Worker Pain injury and biomechanical dysfunction, not just the symptoms using scientific evidence based treatments
What to expect during your first visit?
We charge $70 for all Chiropractic appointments. Your 1st appointment is $70 and if required, any subsequent appointments are $70. This is not including private health insurance rebates. At Advanced Health a 30-45 minute Chiropractic treatment can include: Chiropractic adjustments, Massage, Dry Needling/Acupuncture, spinal traction (ideal for disc injuries), Taping and Clinical Reformer based Pilates.
The Best Chiropractor in Preston for Postural Office Worker Pain
When looking to find a good chiropractor or a chiropractor near me who is great at treaWhen looking to find a good chiropractor or a chiropractor near me who is great at treating Postural Office Worker Pain, use a trusted family/friend’s recommendation and/or review websites to find a chiropractor in Preston you can trust. Perhaps read our reviews on google before you make a decision.
Conditions
Here is a list of common injuries we treat:
Chiropractic Postural Office Worker Pain relief in Preston
