If you have access to someone who can observe you in your workstation and assess how ergonomic it is for you, and then make changes accordingly, that is the best possible option. Others can see what we cannot necessarily see about ourselves, especially if they’re trained to look for it. Barring that scenario, here are some tips to evaluate your desk for yourself.
Start with your chair:
Sit up straight with feet flat on the floor. If you can’t reach the floor easily, adjust the height of the chair. You should have your knees bent to 90 degrees and the back of your knees not touching the chair, but with your thighs mostly supported by the chair. Your hips should be bent to 90 degrees as well. Also, check to see that your wallet is not in your back pocket while sitting; it unlevels your pelvis and therefore the rest of your spine, causing misalignment and pain. Make sure your chair has lumbar support.
If you don’t fit well in your chair, replace it with one you do fit in. Not all people are the same size, so not all chairs will fit you.
You can also use an exercise ball to sit on, which strengthens your low back, reducing the incidence of back pain.
Another option besides the exercise ball and the office chair is a kneeling chair. These have no back support but allow you to kneel on them and easily maintain an ergonomic position.
Pull the chair up to your desk.
With your shoulders relaxed and lowered, your elbows should be bent to 90 degrees when resting on the desk. Wrists should be flat (not bent) when resting on the keyboard. When looking at the computer monitor, your head should be over your shoulders rather than in front of them, and you shouldn’t bend down to look at the monitor, so raise it up if you need to. Also make sure you’re not turning your head to look at anything you need to see on a regular basis. It’s important to be in neutral position as much as possible. If you need to write, look at the phone or a second monitor, or other activity in addition to using the computer, you’ll need a swiveling chair and you’ll need to evaluate your position for each of these activities.
Maintaining a good posture during the work day will help reduce your stress, your pain and will help maintain your chiropractic adjustments. Even with a good chiropractor, if you spend a lot of time in a poor position, the adjustments won’t hold as well.
If you have an ergonomic workstation and you still have pain, make sure to get a chiropractic evaluation to determine how your spine can be corrected.