Healthbeat 4: Perfect posture at the office or from home

SIOUX CITY (KTIV) - The pandemic took people away from the comfort of their office desks to the comfort of their own homes -- but that situation may not have been as comfortable.

Dr. Douglas Martin with UnityPoint Health focuses on treating and studying people and their workspaces.

“When you’re at the office, it’s your space, you have your own desk, your own setup, but a lot of times people that are working from home, they’re sharing that with other people that are in the family. And of course, that’s a problem because not everybody is the same shape and size, you might have kids at home that are doing things for school, or what have you,” said Dr. Martin.

Dr. Martin said slouching is a normal thing for humans; we’re all guilty of it. However, not correcting it can lead to larger health issues.

“So when you’re sitting in a chair, we like 90 degrees between the torso and the hip and the leg. Same thing with respect to the elbow. So, when you’re working with a keyboard, or you’re working with a mouse, we like to have 90-degree angles at the elbow. If you get away from 90 degrees, then you know you’re extended. That’s where you have problems with things like wrist tendonitis, and carpal tunnel,” said Dr. Martin. “We always like to see an eye level that’s a little bit lower for the screen than where your eye level is. It can create some trouble with neck tension and headaches and that type of thing.”

Dr. Martin said it starts with prevention. That starts with living a healthy lifestyle: being active, eating healthy, and stretching while at work. Dr. Martin says technology has improved when it comes to office furniture, from the chair you sit to the desk you can either stand or sit at. He wants people to look for adjustability and flexibility when designing their workspace.

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