Individuals who spend long time behind desk and commonly known as “behind desk sitters” complain more than others about backache and pain in arms, legs and neck, they are also unsatisfied that they have to spend many hours in sitting state. If this issues are not noticed, they certainly create troubles , but we can avoid them by considering some points.
Dr.Seyed Mansoor Rayegani, specialist in physical and Rehabilitation medicine and professor at Shahid beheshti university, points out the fact that people spend along time of the day sitting behind desks and recommends the following items:
Since most of our activities occur when we are sitting on an armchair or chair, we should know some points in order to remain in healthy state even in these positions. By knowing them we can prevent bad consequences of long-time sitting.
Having a healthy body is one of the most important thing in preventing different problems. Doing regular sport, having proper nutrition and avoiding stress and nervous pressures are some simple points that make a person ready to do daily activities such as sitting. During work, you should leave your seat and walk every 15 to 20 minutes. Sitting place must be appropriate and standard. If an individual sit in an inappropriate place, especially when he stays in this position for a long time, he will face various physical problems. Height, size and depth of sitting area must be adjusted to the person body. It means that if the chair is too short or small and does not have proper depth and back will cause trouble.
In addition to this, neck and back head should have proper place to lean to prevent pain in head and neck. The best sitting position on the chair is when the angle between thigh and leg and also thigh and spinal cord are 90 degrees. the chair should also have proper back to fill back lumber. Therefore, if your chair does not satisfy these requirement, to reduce physical problems, you should fill your back lumber with a small pillow.
If your work requires rotation and you have to sit on chair for long time, you should pay attention to the chair arms which have to adjust so that hands lay comfortably on them. chair arms height should be so that the angle between forearm and arm be 90 degrees and hand and forearm are parallel to the floor. The chair material is also important and must be paid attention to. Chair must have soft and comfortable cover and should be flexible. If it is possible to choose a chair with a cover from natural material, the situation would be more appropriate due to the better sweating capability.
Best table for a proper char.
As mentioned before, the chair or bench that you are going to sit and do your works should have special conditions, but you should not ignore what lies in front of the chair. For example, if a table is supposed to be in front of a chair, you should consider its relating points and provide the table consistent with them.
Dr. Raygani recommends that the table that is in front of the chair should have proper distance so that when you are going to do your works, the hands and table are at the same level. When working with computer, you should be careful that elbow is on a comfortable and flexible place. The wrist has the same condition and should be on a soft and flexible place. When working with computer, the angle between hand and wrist should be zero, it means that the wrist should not bend towards up or down. Dr.Rayegani points out that whatever work you are doing, after 10 to 20 minutes should stand up from your seat and take a short walk. Walking and standing after some minutes not only help the healthiness of skeleton-muscle system, but also is recommended to prevent sudden death, it has been proven that log-time sitting is one of the main reason for sudden death and therefore it is necessary to stand up from your seat after 15 minutes and if walking is not possible,at least stand up for a while. It is also preferable if you do your works for a while on a standing or moving position to reduce sitting time. Long time sitting causes cramp, blood flow reduction and osteoarthritis in hip. We sometimes observer sciatic nerve pain because of putting wallet in back pant pockets. Therefore, it is recommended that before sitting take your wallet out of your pocket.
Never hump while sitting and to improve your body condition, you can do stretching exercises for your shoulders. When it finishes, do some simple sport like soft exercises and muscle stretching. Do not forget to drink enough liquids, specially water or soft tea.