Are you suffering from neck pain? Is your office workstation set up a Pain in the Neck? Farzana Ismail, Canadian Certified Professional Ergonomist, provides these possible causes:
Are you using the laptop (without any accessories) for prolonged periods?
The average human head weighs 11 lbs. (almost the weight of a bowling ball). When you look down at your laptop, the pressure on the neck is up to 2-3x more putting a lot of strain on the neck and back.
Recommendations:
- Connect an external keyboard and mouse to your laptop and then raise your laptop on a laptop stand (or even a box or books) so that the top of the screen is at eye level.
- If you are using the laptop solely for the camera during video conference meetings, consider the use of a portable webcam.
Are you using dual monitors and turning your neck to look at the monitors?
Monitors should be positioned based on usage to limit turning of the neck as much as possible.
Recommendations:
- If you are using both monitors equally, position the computer equipment such that your belly button is lined up with the middle of the spacebar on the keyboard and the point where the two monitors meet. You can position the monitors slightly back to further limit the neck rotation.
- If you are using one monitor more than the other (e.g., 70% / 30% split), then position the computer equipment such that the belly button is lined up with the middle of the spacebar on the primary monitor, then position the secondary monitor on your eye dominant side. This is not the same as your hand dominance. Click here to determine your dominant eye.
Do you wear progressive lenses and view the monitor through the bottom of the lens?
If you view the monitor through the bottom of the lens and find that the text on the screen is clearer when you bend your head backwards, then your monitor is too high.
Recommendations:
- Lower the monitor height (a little at a time) until you can view the top of the screen clearly without bending your head backwards. You can also try positioning the monitor slightly back to improve neck posture.
- Speak to your Optometrist about dedicated computer glasses or “occupational” progressive lenses which have an extra-wide intermediate zone to maximize comfort when working at the computer for prolonged periods of time.
Farzana is a Canadian Certified Professional Ergonomist (CCPE). She provides ergonomic services for Office, Industrial and Service environments including: Ergonomics Risk Assessments (in-person / virtual), Physical Demands Analyses (PDAs), and Ergonomics Training sessions and webinars. To receive more information about the ergonomic services at Athlete's Care or to request an ergonomic assessment of your workstation, please email ergonomics@athletescare.com
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