Office job - Back trouble

[lord-of-creation]

Been in a new job for 3 months now and it involves sitting in front of a computer all day

Despite having a fancy all singing all dancing chair and sorting it so that the screen is at eye level, arm rests are at desk level, mouse and keyboard near edge of desk (i.e not reaching for them), I'm having a lot of trouble with the right side of the trapezius muscle just below the bottom of the shoulder blade. Anybody have any idea what may be causing this? Or any solutions to help ease it?

[Hyper10]

From my own experience, it's just positioning and change of routine. The only thing that worked for me was a sports/deep tissue massage. Honestly 1 or 2 visits and you'll hopefully resolve it. just my view

[Matt_N]

I suffer from a very similar problem.

It's basically being caused by being sat at your desk for 8 or so hours a day.

I've just started seeing a physio for treatment because it really is getting me down, I've had neck and back problems for the last two years now.

I've been recommended a light exercise programme to start building some strength back up in my neck and back that involves using light weights, stretching the muscles and working on my core strength and balance.

I am not a doctor but some of the stretches on this site helped me relieve some of the tension in my neck and back http://www.necksolutions.com/

If your problems persist I'd get down to your GP asap, it has taken me around 4 months from seeing a GP to having an x-ray just to check everything is ok to me starting physio just this week.

Also take regular breaks from your desk, if you can get away from your desk at lunch, go for a walk or something, anything to get away from being sat down all day.

[RobM77]

It may well be the chair. A colleague of mine and I both have bad backs, and we've both rejected the special bad back chairs offered to us in favour of the standard office chairs. Both of us found that the chairs pulled our shoulders round too much. The trouble with chairs that are shaped and supportive is that in doing so they become quite specific to the exact shape of one's back. My advice would be to look at lots of different chairs, find one that fits well, and adjust it for comfort.

[Pulse]

Matt_N said:

Also take regular breaks from your desk, if you can get away from your desk at lunch, go for a walk or something, anything to get away from being sat down all day.

This is the most important bit of advice. Get away from your desk as much as possible. Go for a walk at lunch time, even if you bring a packed lunch to work. Even if you're on an industrial estate or somewhere boring to walk around, just go for a walk, or if you have a big enough office, walk around that. Make sure you get up at least once an hour to get a drink; more if you can.

I sometimes have been sat at my desk for a few hours without realising, and my back starts hurting. I go for a 30 minute walk and all is better.

[lord-of-creation]

At home now after another day at the office and i've got the same pain again. Frustrating as I spent the first 30 minutes of the day sorting everything out (chair position, screen height etc) until I felt right. Been getting up every 30 mins and doing some stretches that i saw on youtube that apparently repair any damage that has been done by being sat in the same position for 20-30 minutes.

Starting to think it could be due to the fancy chair like one of the posts above says. It does feel to be rounding (opening) the shoulders too much which would cause pain in the area I have it. Might switch to a simple typist like chair for a week and see how things go.

Most frustrating thing is that it is stopping me from being able to play golf due to the pain/likelihood of straining the muscle again