Wanderlust: Expat Life & Style in Thailand June / July 2017: The Business Issue | Page 48

Health & Wellness
What are the earliest symptoms of back problems?
Tension, tightness and pain are the first symptoms, and
most are muscle-related in origin.
How can sitting improperly impact our spines?
When we slouch forward and sit, we put weight onto
our spines. There are different kinds of sitting — proper
and improper ways. For a correct sitting position, there
is an angle equal to or more than 90 degrees between
the body and the thighs. Sitting in a proper position
is of course better, but even if you do that and sit for
a long time without moving, it will lead to muscle
tightness.
If someone must remain seated for extended periods
of time, what can be done to avoid muscle tightness?
He or she can do stretching exercises at his or her desk
and walk to the toilet every two hours.
So many people work in offices and sit at computers
all day — sometimes all night, too. What are some best
practices to avoid “office syndrome,” or the cluster of
symptoms related to modern day office work?
First, you’ll need a good office chair and desk. The best
chair should be adjustable and come with lumbar
support, because the curve of the back is different from
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person to person. Your chair should allow you to adjust its
height and angle, too.
Other tips are more related to placement. For instance,
your monitor should be placed at eye level so that you
neither have to extend your neck to see the screen nor
bend your neck down. You want to place it at a height
that puts the least amount of strain on your neck. And,
to protect your back, whenever you want to see your
monitor better, scoot your chair in closer — don’t lean
forward.
Laptops are the worst kind of computers for the neck
because you can’t easily adjust your monitor or keyboard
to sit properly, and they force you to bend your head
downward. If you must work the whole day using laptop,
put some books underneath it to make the laptop higher.
You will also need a separate keyboard — this is the
key. Your keyboard should be placed low so that your
shoulders are in a low and relaxed position when you
type, not tense and up near your ears.
No matter what your computer station is like, move
around at least every two hours. Get up and do some
stretching, go to the toilet, get some water — anything to
stretch your muscles.
Are stand-up desks a good way to prevent “office
syndrome”?