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ATTENTION ALL OFFICE WORKERS

Tips and suggestions for aches and pains at work

Without doubt most of our clients in the central city spend their day primarily behind a PC.

While advanced technology and increased automation comes with major benefits, the toll on our bodies can be high – we just weren’t designed for prolonged static postures- hunting and gathering were supposed to be our thing!

So…      

• Make sure your workstation is suitably set up for you- after all you wouldn’t attempt a days cycling on a bike that didn’t fit you. If you would like us to send a diagrammatic sheet of how your workplace should be set up then- call us on 499 3504.
• Don’t sit there all day!  Make sure you get up (even to walk around your desk) every hour or so- you can do some general ‘pause’ exercises in this time. When you’re busy- that’s when you really need to take your breaks and micropauses- this is often when people miss them!
• Remember your micropauses– a micropause is taken every 3-5 minutes (NOT every 15-20 as many people believe).

  For a micropause all you need to do is take your hands off the PC and shake them around for a moment and then you can get back to work again!

  Get some postural advice from your Physio– maybe you are not activating the correct postural muscles, or you are repeatedly using some muscles at the expense of others. If your postural muscles are weak you’ll need some prescribed exercises to strengthen them up.

• Don’t hope that aches and niggles will go away- they generally don’t.  It usually means you are specifically aggravating a certain structure.
• Remember that prolonged sitting with poor posture can place stress and strain on muscles, joints, ligaments and nerves in the neck, upper back and shoulders, forearms and wrist. If allowed to continue this may cause eventual breakdown of the tissue causing pain, swelling, muscle spasm and weakness.
• So best get those niggles and aches addressed before you progress to long term damage and chronic pain.
• Try not to let other people’s stress and lack of organisation stress you- let others know that you need time to complete work for their potential deadlines.
• Stress often manifests itself physically and can add to your problems.

We can help: Education and rehabilitation

• postural correction
• relaxation massage/advice on self relaxation
• workstation set-up advice
• assessment and management of any underlying tissue strains/microtrauma
• muscle balance assessment
• home and work exercise plan

For all appointments call 04 499 3504.