Poor posture at work can lead to fatigue and spinal injuries, study states

Do you suffer from frequent headaches, neck aches and back aches at work? Check your posture to see whether you're sitting properly. Poor posture can not just lead to fatigue it can even cause spinal injuries, increased muscle tension and can even injure the vertebrae over time. What's more is that over time it might even limit your ability to turn your head.



“When your posture is tall and erect, the muscles of your back can easily support the weight of your head and neck - as much as 12 pounds,” said Erik Peper, a professor at San Francisco State University in the US. “But when your head juts forward at a 45 degree angle, your neck acts like a fulcrum, like a long lever lifting a heavy object,” Peper said.



For their research, they asked 87 students to sit upright with their heads properly aligned on their necks and asked them to turn their heads. After this, students were asked to scrunch their necks and jut their heads forward. Post this they were asked to turn their heads again. 90% of the students who participated reported that they were able to turn their heads a lot farther when their heads were aligned straight with their necks.



In another test, 125 students were asked to scrunch their necks for 30 seconds. 98% of them reported experiencing some form of pain in their head, neck or eyes later on. Peper recommended that to make yourself aware of your posture, you could try purposely scrunching your neck. “You can exaggerate the position and experience the symptoms. Then when you find yourself doing it, you can become aware and stop,” he said.



Work on your posture and your body aches will soon disappear. Stay tuned for more updates.