​I have a laptop and I love it – it is a wonderfully convenient tool but unfortunately ergonomically it isn’t great.  The screen is rarely at eye height even when it is being used on a table – and let’s face it, it rarely gets used on the table; more frequently the arm chair, coffee table or in the case of many teenagers, the bed.  The number of clients I have had over the years complaining of intense neck pain, usually at the base of the neck (either a chronic ache or acute pain with motion) is starting to get hard to count.

Tip number 6 – if you must use the laptop in bed then lie on your back with your knees up and the computer on your thighs.  Don’t prop your head up at a ridiculous angle.  Keep it on a single pillow. 

If you are using the laptop on the couch, try and elevate it on a cushion, or multiple cushions on your lap.

If you must use it at the coffee table – then kneel in front of it and again try and bring it up to eye level; don’t lean forward on your seat.

​Regardless of where you use your laptop it is a good idea to take a break every 30 to 40 minutes and get up and move around.  This will also help prevent the likelihood of spinal pain developing.  

5 - Sitting with both legs to one side on the couch – Many people have a habit of sitting with both of their legs to one side on the couch while watching TV, using the computer etc.  I have had children as young as six and eight attend my clinic with back pain – usually around the base of the rib cage on one side from doing just this, not to mention many adults.  This happens because if you sit with your legs to the side and watch TV, you still have to prop yourself up so that your eyes are horizontally level or it just feels weird.  The easiest way to do this on the couch is to rest one arm on the armrest which leaves your legs out to the opposite side.  As a result, your lower back and ribs are forced into an extreme curve.  And as with all habits – and lounge rooms – you tend to favour the same armrest, and same side of the couch and sit the same way all the time.  Pretty soon your body adopts this curve and you start to feel pain.  Tip number 5 – It is just better not to do this.  Sit square to the TV with your legs out in front of you.