“Are standing desks any good?”

As a chiropractor, most of my working day is spent adjusting at the treatment couch, chasing wild toddlers around the room and walking to and from a reception desk. Sitting for long periods isn’t (thankfully!) something I have to do on a regular basis.

For many however it is…..

I am hearing of, and now advising, many more patients to take the leap into using a standing desk and the results I am finding are amazing.

Not only are these patients experiencing less pain and symptoms such as headaches and muscle aches, I am finding that their biomechanics on each review have been improving so significantly that they are requiring chiropractic care less frequently to keep the functioning at their optimum.

You may have read in our previous blog what the healthcare implications are of sitting for too long. We shouldn’t be sitting for more than four hours a day and we certainly shouldn’t be sitting for more than 30-60 minutes at a time without getting up, moving, stretching joints and improving our circulation.

Standing desks can range from between £200-£1,500 and so there are a few hacks out there that mean you could try out this new set up without completely blowing the budget. That being said, if you happen to work for a large company that has a healthy budget dealing with staff welfare and ergonomics then it might be worth having a conversation with your Occupational Health department about providing you with a standing desk.

The first option is propping up your laptop screen or monitor with books. Very simple and I’m sure you’ve got a lot of all textbooks sitting around somewhere that you can do this with.

The second option is to buy a ‘riser’ that will allow you to raise your screen and place your keyboard at a comfortable angle for typing. Most major retailers now sell these. Here is an example: https://https://www.harmoni-living.co.uk/collections/harmoni-standing-desk

The third option as I’ve already mentioned, is to have a fully functional standing desk which you can control the height of and can be used for both seated and standing work.

Here are a few examples patients have shared with me of their working environment. Both of them spend many hours working at a computer and in both cases I am noticing huge improvements in their posture, their pain levels and visits required to maintain their system since using this setup. .

If you have any further questions about how a desk such as this could work for you please let us know and we always advise that you have a consultation session with one of our chiropractors first of all to address any issues within your musculoskeletal system prior to making any changes with your desk.

I hope this has been helpful and please make sure to check out our previous blog ‘Is sitting too long bad for me?’ for more information.

‘til next time,

Francesca

P.s - Thank you to Brian and Sharon for kindly sharing the set-up of their new standing workstations.