Is Bad Posture Giving You a Hunchback?

Our fore parents worked for long hours in their farms, hunting and doing other jobs that not only gave them food but also did a lot of good to their bodies because the frequent mobility was more of an exercise. In Kenya today most people in employment and businesses are more concerned with how much they make, but do not give healthy working much thought. Engrossed with good and high performance of the work, employers also do not give any consideration about protection of their employees.

Almost all types of jobs in the offices nowadays are done seated behind a computer screen. Amongst so many health conditions that we are exposed to as a result of sitting behind those desks is hunchback, yes hunchback.

Hunchback is a condition whereby your back is sharply curved forward forming a hump in the upper part. The hump is caused by the vertebrae of the upper back becoming wedge-shaped therefore giving your back that shape. Hunchback which is also known as kyphosis can be caused by osteoporosis (deterioration of the bone density), cancer and its overall treatment, it can also be congenital. In majority of people especially the young generation they get hunch back because of poor posture for a prolonged period of time either at school or at work.

Kenyans are known to be hard workers, and most employees will give their best to make sure they out do their colleagues in terms of high performance. But doing all these rarely are they giving any thought of how healthy the working environment is. This inconsiderate thought exposes most employees to developing hunchback in the future because their spines are strained.

As an employer giving your employees a healthy working environment will not only benefit them, but will also offer your business a competitive advantage. When you are considerate of your employees’ health and offer up to standard furniture, then in turn you will get high performance from them and this is good for the growth of the business.

With evolution of the internet, most businesses in Kenya does their activities on line from marketing , to purchasing and sales and even the financial aspect of the business are all done online. This means most employees spend more time seated behind a desk top computer or a laptop. What does this mean for your back? It is continuous straining that need to be worked on to avoid future health risks.

How to protect yourself and your employees from hunchback

All these said, you must be wondering if your work place is a healthy one? Consider the following; to protect yourself as an employee, and also an employer who wants to protect his or her staff so they can perform highly without risking their health, these are the things you should do;

First and foremost the working area for a healthy working environment (desk and chair) should conform to the required standards. The desk or table should be 72-75cm above the floor. This distance is comfortable for any average adult. As an employer these requirements should be part of the plan during office set up if you care about your employees and want them to give you good and high performance at work.

When working on your desk making sure your back stays straight when you are seated, is a sure way of protecting yourself from hunchback in old age. What should be noted is that hunchback is not an overnight process. It is something that reveals itself later in life. So the consequences are not immediate, they are forecasted. Your thighs should also be parallel to the floor and your feet flat on the ground below.

Another healthy working practice to note here is your arms should be on your sides with the elbow having a 90-100 degree angle inclination to the desk, not high or low. Having breaks to walk and stretch around the office in between every 30 minutes of working on your desk is not only great for your body but is also a way of refreshing your mind to ensure high work performance.

As an employer if you want to protect your staff from back strains at work, it is better to provide them with desk top computers instead of laptops because they are easier to adjust to suit a comfortable posture than the laptops.

Hunchback have other causes as well not just poor posture of the back, but taking care of your sitting position is one of the ways of keeping it at bay. So employers protect your employees by creating a healthy working environment so that in return your employees will give you the high performance that you are looking for. Employees should in turn be conscious of their posture when sitting behind that computer and it is also important to limit the use of your laptop back at home, because you can never have a good posture using your laptop on the couch, not to mention on the bed.

#posture #health #hunchback #employees