Hi,
I was wondering, does anyone else get a lot of backache from sitting around writing so much? And if so, do you have any tips to avoid it? I'm ok at home because I have a good chair, but I do get very achy from sitting in the library.

Library chairs will do that and you just have to break up your time there as much as possible. When I had to do historical research I got a very bad back and bought a good chair for my home office.

my very helpful pharmacists told me to avoid slouching - thanks! give me the Ibuprofen

Although it is true, just try to sit as upright as possible, I went through some bad phases of it, but for the last month or so have been okay despite sitting for about 10 hours a day writing (not in a library tho) - I keep the back of my chair bolt upright and try not slouch - it does help either that or I've just gotten used to it?

i heard that the key is change. alternating between several bad positions is a lot better than staying in one good position all day long.

so, ideally, you would find a way to have rotating writing positions. lie on the couch, sit at the desk, sit at the kitchen table, lie/sit in bed, and just move around through those positions. or more professionally, have a table that you can lift so that you can write standing, or have a chair that offers different sitting positions at your desk.

alternatively, break up your sitting sessions with other positions frequently. a brief walk around the office, a trip to the coffee machine, to a friend's desk for a chat, to the window, ... don't sit in your breaks!

I take regular aerobic exercise with stretching before and after and I find that really helps keep my back strong and pain-free when I have to sit at a desk for hours on end.

I read in an article about work-related injuries somewhere that it may actually be better to sit in a SLIGHTLY relaxed position. (Sorry for the caps, would have used italics or bold if I could have). It apparently puts less strain on your back than sitting totally upright.

Yet I know but to well that sitting upright feels really good after you have hurt your back bending over the table for too long...

The problem as always is consciously doing it for hours on end, you'll never sit completely imoblised and you tend to shift all the time - which usually results in some great slouching postures

With all the time I spend hunched over my bench in the lab, and then over my desk and computer, I've had some awful problems with my neck and back. The osteopath I saw suggested stretching frequently as well as trying to maintain good posture and take breaks etc.

I've found that if I take a couple of minutes every hour or so to stretch my neck and shoulder muscles amd move around a bit it really helps.

Try not to work too much on laptop, it is really, really bad for back. Better (and cheaper) is to buy a decent desktop. Also arranging workplace properly really helps (from my experience): the secreen should be so high up that you can look at it straight, without looking up or down. And a proper computer chair is a really good investment.

Make it a point to walk around after sitting for about 20-30 min. That's what I do. Hope that helps!-)

don't know about anybody else - but I forget and lose track of time - so I only realise after like 3 hours that I've been slouching, by which time, I just top up my blood:Ibuprofen ratio a little and get back to some more slouching

Hi leone, I've tried many things - good posture, good chair, supports, etc., but am recovering from a lower back injury and find it best in the end to just forget about posture and change position regularly. Curl up in a chair, lie on bed/mat in different positions, etc. And regular stretching - sitting on a chair and bending over to hang between your knees for a few minutes regularly is good, as is rotating hips back and forth maybe ten times every time you think of it. I have found that trying to sit up straight aggravates my back.

A few things have helped me:

One sounds a bit trite but I was getting RSI (my wrists were hurting) during a job that involved a lot of typing. Occupational Health came and did an assessment of my workstation and gave me a couple of tips including raising the height of the screen (just put a few heavy books underneath) and using a wrist rest. That helped.

Pilates, even just one class a week, works wonders.

I use one of these:

http://www.jpmproducts.co.uk/retail_product_detail.asp?ClientGroupID=4&ProdID=62&ProdTypeID=50

for sitting on and as long as I use it properly (sit up straight and adjust the screen or chair height) I don't get back pain and if I don't use it I do. I feel a bit like a granny if I take it somewhere (new job or something) where I will be working at a pooter all day but it's worth it for the non-back-pain-ness.

Maybe any of the above will help?