Another blog post from Ann Arbor chiropractor, Mike Tannenbaum, D.C: How to Sit Properly.

As you probably know, sitting for too long is bad for you. Some studies have shown that people who sit for up to six hours a day at work are 40% more likely to die from a variety of health issues than those who sit less at work.

However, for many people, sitting at work for long periods of time is difficult or impossible to avoid. So, with this in mind, listed below are directions we give our Ann Arbor chiropractic patients to help them with good sitting posture/ergonomics in order to help them prevent many of the health problems associated with poor sitting posture.

If sitting in an office desk chair, make sure your hips are as far back in the chair as possible and adjust the chair so that it gives you good low back support. If sitting in a wood or metal (hard) backed chair, place your bottom at the back edge of the chair and sit without slouching. Mildly leaning back into the chair – as long as you’re not slouching – is acceptable.

When sitting keep your shoulders back and your back straight; that is, avoid hunching your back or shoulders. Hunching puts added stress on your back, which can cause a variety of ailments, including back pain, neck pain, and headaches.

Make sure your seat height is adjusted properly. Your feet should be planted firmly and evenly on the ground and your knees should be even with your hips, or slightly lower. If your seat doesn't move up or down enough to accommodate these positions, you may need to use a foot stool to rest your feet on so your knees are at the correct height, or a cushion to help raise you up in the seat.

Your seat back should be angled back slightly (reclined), at about 100 to 110 degrees.

Make sure you have good lumbar (low back) support. The lumbar support can either be built into your chair, or you can use a pillow as a lumbar support.

Make sure that your arm rests are adjusted so that your wrists are even with your keyboard and that your shoulders are relaxed.

If you have any questions about this blog post, chiropractic, back pain, neck pain or headaches I can be reaches at my Ann Arbor chiropractic office at [email protected].