1) Are sit-stand desks worth it?

Yes, definitely, a thousand times yes. If your work is desk-based we recommend sit-stand desks both at home and at work. Humans were not designed to sit for long periods and studies show that there is a huge increase in our incidental movement when we stand compared with when we sit. And the idea is not that you need to stand all day, for many people 30-60 mins at a time is plenty. To keep it simple, we recommend alternating every hour e.g. sit for 60 minutes, stand for 60 minutes. As you should be moving your desk frequently, we recommend spending a little extra and getting a desk (or desk-topper) that has a button or lever system to lift and lower it. It sounds inconsequential but the more difficult it is to raise and lower your desk, the less you are likely to do it.

2) What is the best office chair?

When it come to chairs, don’t believe everything the marketing tells you. A more expensive chair is not necessarily a better one but there are a few things that can make a difference. Arm rests tend to get in the way of sliding all the way in under the desk. This means you will be seated further away and leaning (or slouching) forward to get to your keyboard. Lumbar rolls for the lower back are ideal and a few levers to change the height and tilt of the seat can be useful to get it to the right position. That said, if you don’t have good sitting posture, not even the best chair is going to fix that and stop you from getting sore. We need to be able to create and control our sitting posture using our muscles, not rely on external supports to do it for us.

If you think your sitting posture is causing you problems, make an appointment in the clinic or online. If you do want to change up your seating option, we suggest you try a kneeling chair or fit ball.

3) Can ergonomic mouses, wrist rests and keyboards help me?

To be honest, we don’t rate most of the “ergonomic” equipment on the market. If you’ve had some kind of hand or arm pain and found ergonomic equipment has really helped, we suggest you make an appointment. Ergonomic equipment doesn’t usually fix problems, it can just help hide it for a little while. The cause of the pain will still be there however and it will come back in some way, shape or form at a later date. 

Have any other work station set-up questions? Email them through. We’ll send you our thoughts and update this blog for everyone’s benefit.