By Niall Roche

There is no doubt that you have heard all of the buzz around office ergonomics. But do you know how home office ergonomics can apply to you? Well, if you are your own boss, you are in charge of your office furniture and setup and you can control the ergonomics of your office, and ultimately your own health. A few simple adjustments in what you already own could save you a lot of pain and ultimately a lot of money in lost work and health bills.

So what do you need to consider when you are looking at home office ergonomics? The most obvious thing and one of the simplest items is your chair. You sit in this chair for most of the day, every day so it should be comfortable. Not only comfortable but ergonomically correct. Your office chair should first and foremost be comfortable for you to sit in. You should have lumbar support from your chair to protect your lower back. And you should be able to sit with your feet solidly placed on the floor.

Another culprit for office aches and pains is your keyboard. Do you type a lot, or work on your keyboard? If you do, you may have noticed aches in your wrists or fore arms. Take a look at where your keyboard is. Your keyboard should not be sitting on your desk; in fact, it should be lower than your desk on a keyboard tray. This is a very easy thing to fix; in fact you can easily install a keyboard tray on the underside of your desk. By having your keyboard at a lower level you will reduce the strain on your wrists and save yourself from a lot of pain.

Be sure to position your computer monitor at the proper height as well. The top of the monitor should be at eye level or slightly below. You should not have to look up and strain your neck when you are looking at your computer screen. Keep your monitor clean, because even dust particles that gather on the screen will affect how you see the screen and can strain your eyes.

If you use a computer mouse a lot, you should invest in an ergonomically correct mouse that minimizes the strain on your wrist. A traditional mouse demands that the wrist be held at an unnatural angle with a twist.

If you use a laptop computer consider investing in a separate keyboard and mouse that you can set up properly. A laptop keyboard will cause a lot of unnecessary strain on your arms and wrists because of the condensed set up of the keys and by attaching a separate keyboard you will be able to prevent a lot of damage.

Home office ergonomics are easier to accommodate because you are in control of your own environment now someone else. You can choose the proper equipment to benefit your health and maximize your productivity.

This article was provided courtesy of HomeOfficeBuddy.com where you can learn lots more about ergonomics in the office and other home office related topics.

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Tags lost work | unnecessary strain | prevent | damage | productivity

By Brad Gilden

Many of us spend most of our workday sitting at a desk working on the computer, talking on the phone, sending & receiving fax messages. Poorly designed workstations can lead to debilitating neck, back and shoulder pain. This article discusses the importance of a good ergonomically designed workstation that does not necessarily require a large investment in time or finances.

The term ERGONOMICS comes from two Greek words: ERGON which means work and NOMOI, which means natural laws. Roughly translated, ergonomics is the study of human posture and positioning as it relates to the work environment. Proper posture is the key to a healthy musculoskeletal system. Good posture leads to proper alignment of the joints supporting the system against the forces of gravity. This allows our muscles to be positioned at their mid-range where they are strongest and under minimal tension. When the body has assumed proper postural alignment less demand on the joints and the muscles is required to perform movements, thus the body conserves energy and performs daily functions more efficiently. Decreased wear and tear on the joints and surrounding structures is also reduced which is a large factor for decreasing early onset of arthritis.

Work Station Set Up It is well documented that low back pain is a leading cause of missed work days in the United States. More than $4 billion dollars are spent on low back pain each year. Various research studies have demonstrated the effect on poor posture leading to low back & neck pain. Extrapolating this information, we see a direct correlation with poor workstation set up in the office. Below represents an inexpensive means of improving your workstation to decrease the affects of poor posture.

The Chair A properly fitted chair is essential considering much of your time is spent sitting. The “PERFECT CHAIR” for everyone does not exist. Each of us has different requirements based on our height, body proportions and anatomical structure. It is important that the chair has the ability to move in a vertical direction. The hips should be positioned slightly higher than the knees. This will take pressure off the lower back. A chair that swivels 360° is also very important so you don’t have to twist your back when reaching away from the frontal plane. Arm rests are very important for taking stress off the shoulder girdle. The elbow should be positioned at a 90° angle, resting the forearm on the rest. This position will relieve tension on the muscles of the neck and shoulder. Lumbar support is imperative for preventing the slouched position. Slouching in a chair occurs when the lower back forms a “C” shape and you end up sitting on your tail bone. This position places a lot of stress on the lumbar discs which can lead to bulging and eventually slippage of the disc out from their central location. This bulging can lead to numbness, tingling a weakness down the legs. If not corrected, permanent damage to the nerves can occur. A thin pillow, towel or foam can be used in the back of the chair to fill in the space between the chair and your lower back. This will assist in sitting upright, maintaining good spinal alignment. Your weight should be distributed over your pelvic floor muscles. Envision a string tied to your belly button with a 5lbs weight on the end pulling you slightly forward toward the floor. There should also be some weight through your legs and feet, further reducing pressure on the spine. If you are in the market for a chair, test out as many as you need until you find one that works. The most expensive chair does not always equate to the one that is best for you. When you find a chair you think is right, sit in that chair for twenty minutes and see how you feel. Giving the chair an honest workout is the only way you will know if it is right for you.

The Desk and keyboard should be at the height of your arms, maintaining a 90° angle at the elbow. There should be enough room under the desk to slide your legs and chair under the desk. If you are using a computer, the monitor should be high enough so that you are looking straight ahead. If you have to look down, this causes you to come out of a neutral alignment and adds stress to the muscles in the back of the neck. It also increases pressure on the cervical discs.

Telephone If you are on the phone frequently, the best investment you will ever make is a HEADSET One of the most common faulty postures is the phone/neck cradle. This is when you are on the phone cradling the receiver between your ear and shoulder. This causes increased muscle tension throughout the neck and often leads to severe neck pain. A headset will free your hands for typing and allow you head to remain in a neutral position.

Other useful tips Never twist your back to reach for something. If you are sitting in a chair that swivels, use your feet to rotate your body. Twisting the spine may lead to increased stress throughout the back and shoulders. If you are working on a fax machine, telephone, keyboard, etc., try to position the equipment in front of you so there is no twisting required. Finally, try not to sit for a prolonged period of time. You should stand up every half hour just to get the blood flowing through your neck, back & legs. Stand up and stretch by walking around a bit. This will relieve tension from your system and reduce overall stress.

Tags workstation | pain | proper | posture | prolonged

By Matt Hudsonn

Lumbar is the back support in the human anatomy that helps supporting the entire weight of the body. Due to constant wear and tear of the lumbar and several other factors, one can encounter back pains which may at times turn out to be extremely severe. In fact back pain is a common occurrence among the people, not only in the United States but in several other places of the world as well. Medical studies conducted in this direction have found out that improper or incorrect sitting postures are the main culprit for this in most of the cases. Today more then ever else people sit longer hours in their work in front of their computer screen due to work and this has all the more increased the number of people suffering from back support due to inadequate lumbar back support.

The anatomy of the human body is designed in such a way that the back cannot support the weight of the entire body for a long time that people spend sitting in front of their computer screen at their work station. So the first thing which one needs to do for taking care of this problem is to sit in office chairs that provide proper lumbar back support. The lower back portion of the human anatomy is designed in such a way that it has a natural inward curve towards the stomach. Thus the space between the lower part of the spine and the stomach needs proper support. The best way to support this in our daily life is to have lumbar back support to give adequate cushioning and support to the lower back portion of the anatomy.

So now if you are planning to buy new chairs for your office, you must make sure that the chair has adequate back support to give proper support to the lumber. The lumber back support on the office chair can be set at just the right place where the back rests on the chair depending on your height. Often people complain that the lumber back support of their office chair or car chair is not put at the correct position, so it is vital that you adjust the support as per your height and body type. One can also find special cushions that can be used as lumbar back support to provide adequate support to your lower when you have to sit for a long time in your office or in your car.

Physical therapy can be used for correcting the condition if this becomes very severe. In fact some people may require extensive medical procedure to correct this condition. So the best thing which you can do for preventing this condition from happening is to use lumbar back support for your office chair. The chair is not at all expensive and you will find many dealers in the market that sell lumbar back support chair. Now the next time you have to sit for a long time, make sure that you use a lumber chair if you want to get rid off, of that constant chronic back pain that is bothering you for a long time.

Tags lumbar | anatomy | back pains | improper posture | back support