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A New Way to Sit

At North Sydney Sports and Chiropractic, we see a lot of desk workers. A majority of our patients are deskbound. I constantly joke that as long as I am working in North Sydney, I’ll never be out of work! But on a serious note, its a sad reality that back pain and desk work go hand in hand. Quite often there is very little you can do to change your sitting habits if your work requires you to sit at a desk and work for long hours during the week. As posture and back pain seem to be directly correlated, good posture is one key indicator of good spinal health. It seems almost impossible to maintain good posture for long periods of the day at work, as you get entrenched in your work, you are more than likely to forget all about it.

The evidence is mounting, it will only be a matter of time that the workplace will be forced to adopt different strategies to combat this problem. Until then it is up to you to do whatever you can to prolong the health of your spine. Well, now there is some hope, we have recently come across some new innovative products and ideas which may change the way you sit forever. We have put together handful of ideas of some of the most useful and easily accessible products that you can start using at work without putting your back at risk of injury any longer.

1) BackJoy Posture +

The Backjoy Posture+ is like no other lumbar support I’ve come across. Firstly, you can use it on any chair, even stools without a back on it. Traditionally, most lumbar supports would require you to strap the cushion across the back of the chair to make it stay in the proper position. Frequently they would slide up and down and it would lose the ideal position of your lumbar curve. The BackJoy is a ‘pelvic’ support that you sit on, its unique shape ‘rocks’ your pelvis and lumbar spine into a more ideal position. It’s comfortable, lightweight, easy to carry around, easy to clean and can be used almost everywhere you go. Check out the video below.

2) Lumo Lift

The Lumo Lift is a clever piece of wearable technology that monitors your posture and gives you instant feedback if you are starting to slouch. You wear the device on your collar and it senses and records any changes in posture during the day. Every time you start to slouch it gives a little vibration. It is one of the only devices that I have seen give instant feedback to the user to help correct posture. The device also counts your calories burnt during the day, how many steps you have taken, as well as rating how good your posture is. This is something any office worker with back pain should have.

If you would like to win one of two Lumo Lifts, just click on this link.

Check out Lumo Lift in the video below.

3) Adjustable Desk/Workstation

Recently, many studies have come out confirming what we all knew, that sitting is no good for us and may possibly be shortening our lifespan. One simple solution. Don’t sit at work. Stand. The new advice we are giving to office workers, particularly with bad backs, is to spend a portion of the day standing. We are seeing a whole range of adjustable desks and workstations that are more affordable for the employer and actually can be used in an office environment (unlike the treadmill desk).

The idea is not to stand the whole day, but to mix up you sitting and standing habits. I would even suggest getting a bar stool which you could half sit/half stand from, so then you have 3 alternative postures to choose from during the day. Our bodies simply do not tolerate the repetitiveness of being in one posture the whole day.

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These are some really practical and affordable solutions that will change the way we sit. Hopefully this will also give back pain sufferers some hope that going to work will not aggravate their back problems.

North Sydney Sports and Chiropractic have the BackJoy Posture+ and the Lumo Lift available for purchase from our office. Please contact our front desk for more information.

For more info on the Adjustable table and workstation check out the following link http://www.badbacks.com.au/.

UPDATE: Our good friend, Nicole at Ready Set Stand, has been kind enough to share her infographic on the benefits of good posture and standing desks. Please take a look as there is some great information to be shared!