Sponsored by Colebrook Bosson Saunders:
Your posture never seems to matter too much until you begin to get older. As a child, most people don’t worry about their posture and focus instead on running around and playing games and generally doing childlike things. Once we begin our adult life, however, posture becomes very important, and we start to notice aches and pains in our backs and our necks from working in one position for hours on end.
Sometimes the angle of our computer screen is what causes this pain, and in that instance, an upgrade to a monitor arm is the most straightforward solution, but other times, it’s a whole combination of factors, all of which are conspiring against us to cause the most irritating and hardest to trace back pain imaginable.
In the interests of easing the burden of fighting against this sea of unreasonable factors, we have compiled a list of posture-friendly props that can absolutely help in getting through the unruly task of fixing long-standing back pain.
Desks
There are a variety of desks that stand out as good candidates for replacing an old or otherwise unfit desk in your office space. To start with, a standing desk is our main recommendation.
A standing desk is a great option as a posture-friendly prop for your work environment because it not only helps you achieve better posture and lessen pain in your back, but it also increases blood flow to your legs, which prevents some physical maladies.
A second suggestion is a variant of the standing desk — a walking desk. These desks are designed to adjust to roughly chest height on any person and allow that person to walk while working by having a treadmill on the bottom part of the desk. This means that throughout the day, you are constantly exercising at a low grade of intensity, which leads to an overall increase in health.
Chairs
Another front-runner for “office furniture that will mess up your spine” is your unassuming office chair. Older chairs and cheaper chairs mainly operate on the principle of “if it can be used as a seat, it’s good for your back.” Unfortunately, this isn’t the case, and these chairs more often than not are bad for your back as they are uncomfortable and poorly designed.
Instead, a kneeling chair can make all the difference in the world to your back without necessarily breaking the bank. Kneeling chairs are simple to use and naturally cause you to straighten and align your spine, which does wonders for back pain.
Second, is a good, ergonomically-designed chair. A high quality office chair doesn’t have to be expensive — just designed effectively, and it can save you and your employees’ backs quicker than you might realize.
Ergonomic Computer Accessories
Ergonomic computer accessories are the future of standard design for electronic parts. Gone are the days of static screen mounts and straight-line keyboards, and now comes the design revolution that works with our bodies, not against them.
First, we have the desk-mounted dual screen monitors that are now available. Simultaneously offering more versatile movement and more desk space, they are a beacon of efficiency in this dark and inefficient world.
Second, we have redesigned keyboards, all of which work with the natural shape and positioning of the hands to allow for less repetitive strain injuries.
Finally, we have an ergonomically designed mouse, which has thumb-centric buttons for ease of selection and movement.
These objects are all gateways to better, more easily flowing office work, and less office injury, which is often overlooked in the “safety in the workplace” world.
