When a patient comes into my office, I welcome them in and offer them a seat across my desk. Invariably, once I have checked their paperwork, I look across to see a patient straining every sinew to sit bolt upright with their shoulders back and their low back perfectly curved. Almost like, if they had dared to sit back and relax into their chair, I would have asked them to return to that pained, bolt upright “perfect” posture – as if I’m some sort of posture police.
In fact, thankfully for my patients, I’m the exact opposite. I would prefer patients to sit how they feel comfortable, instead of some rigid, forced position. Why would I want them to sit in a way that isn’t entirely comfortable for them?
The narrative that we’ve become very familiar with is that this perceived “perfect desk posture” is in some way better for people than just sitting in ways that feel comfortable.
Unfortunately, the truth is far less exciting and far less sexy.
I think it’s important to first state that, yes, we are generally very sedentary as a population now. The job market dictates that many of us spend long hours sat at a desk. We know that spending long periods of time inactive is a risk factor for experiencing low back pain (Madhavi et al 2021).
But it’s also important to acknowledge that there is NOT a single correct way to spend 8-10 hours sat at a desk. A study by Demoulin et al in 2012 looked at all the other available research on Work Station Assessments and concluded that these types of assessments are NOT effective at preventing low back pain.
So, if a Work Station Assessment – which is designed with the intention to make you sit bolt up right, with your shoulders back and your chin tucked – makes no difference to back pain, we can only conclude that this specific “perfect desk posture” might not be so great after all.
Moreover, the idea that every single person should sit in the exact same way is bizarre. We’re all different shapes and sizes, which is now appreciated societally more than ever before, yet we still continue to ask everyone to sit in the exact same way.
A study in 2018 by Guo et al found that, in the group surveyed, everyone had completely different types of natural spinal curvatures in their necks. Some of their necks had the expected forwards curve, some had no curve, and some even had reverse curves. How can someone with a reversed curvature in their neck sit in the exact same posture as someone with a forwards curvature?
There is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach in regards to how to sit at a desk
Ergonomic furniture, that is designed with the intention of holding your body in that “perfect posture” so that it’s easier to maintain for long periods of time, also appears to make no difference to rates of back pain either (Michelaff 2014).
I will concede that some postures which are very awkward in nature (I’m thinking of when I used to do my homework, straining forwards at a coffee table whilst sat on the sofa) are likely to provoke back pain (Steffens et al 2015).
However, it’s also worth noting that sitting in a slouched position actually puts LESS pressure on our low backs when compared to sitting up straight (Pape et al 2018). So, not only is slouching okay, it actually can be used to relieve pressure in your lower spine.
My argument is simply that working towards a single posture to spend 8 hours of your work day in is not a good strategy. Instead, I recommend my patients sit in lots of different postures throughout the day.
The advice that I give my patients is that ‘your best posture is your next posture’.
Sit in a way that feels good until it starts to feel uncomfortable, then change to another posture. As long as you’re sensible about how you sit, then you’ll be fine. Once you can’t get comfortable any more, you probably need to get up and do some exercise (like a short walk or a few stretches) before returning to your desk to continue working.
It doesn’t need to be any more complicated than that.
Contact our experienced chiropractors and support staff at the Diss Chirporactic Clinic today to discuss your posture and book an appointment. You can call us on 01379 650020 or email us and speak to one of our friendly team.
Why you shouldn’t bother trying to sit up straight – A posture guide. By Rob Bailey
