Posture, the mistakes that lead to cervicalgia and other spinal pains

By Cristiano Antonino On Jun 6, 2023

Posture problems? Working at the computer, from the office and especially working from home, can lead to the habit of spending many hours in incorrect postures that, in the long run, can be harmful to our backs

From cervicalgia to pain in the spine and shoulder muscles, the posture disorders we can develop are varied.

Learning what bad postures to adopt, what they entail and how to correct them can be helpful in improving not only your back health, but also your well-being during working hours.

Which postures should be avoided?

When working at a computer, it is important to keep the axis of the head coincident with the body’s centre of gravity, i.e. to align the shoulders, chest and pelvis on the same plane.

This keeps the head straight and prevents it from bending forward and putting an incorrect strain on the back muscles.

To maintain this posture and avoid having the eyes (and consequently the head) tending upwards or downwards, one must hold the computer about 60-70 cm from the face, with the upper edge of the screen at eye level.

Working from home has increased some bad postural habits, in particular that of using the computer while sitting or lying on the sofa and resting it on one’s legs.

This posture leads to neck pain, as it forces the head to be tilted forward, putting strain on the back muscles of the neck.

Those who work from home should therefore try as far as possible to create a workstation similar to the one they use in the office.

Posture errors that are bad for the spine

Another risk, in this case purely related to the office work of people who have to deal with many customers, comes from positioning the computer screen to one side.

In this way, the worker finds himself constantly having to change the position of the boss, looking first in front of him at the person he is talking to and then to the side when using the computer.

The tendency in such cases is to make a twisting movement of the head and neck, keeping the torso in a frontal position.

The advice is to use a mobile chair equipped with castors, which allows one to turn fully towards the computer screen without assuming unnatural postures.

The back can also be stressed by the way we sit.

There is a common misconception that sitting on the sacrum is more comfortable than sitting on the ischial bones, which is the correct thing to do.

Keeping the column in flexion, in fact, gives the feeling of being more comfortable; this happens because we follow the force of gravity and, therefore, our muscles exert less effort.

In this way, however, our back structures are subjected to abnormal tension, as is the neck, since the head has to move to keep the eyes in line with the screen.

This is a bad habit that is especially common among those who do not regularly engage in physical activity: in fact, those who are accustomed to sporting activity find it less difficult to keep the lumbar spine upright.

What is the correct posture

The correct posture is one that follows the so-called ’90° rule’, i.e. keeping the joints of the body at this angle.

The chair, therefore, must not only be movable but also adjustable, so that the feet can always rest firmly on the floor and the knees are bent at right angles.

The desk surface must also be high enough in relation to the chair so that the forearms can be rested and the shoulders relaxed, with the elbows consequently positioned at 90°.

Thanks to this posture, the back and shoulder muscles can work correctly, preventing the onset of problems and pain in the spine and neck.

Finally, it is always advisable to have periodic check-ups with the ophthalmologist, so as not to risk vision problems that, if not taken into account, can lead to incorrect postures, for example bringing the head closer to the screen.

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