Your Workstation Passed the Assessment. Your Body Didn’t.

It’s something I hear quite regularly in the clinic.

“I’ve had a workstation assessment at work, so my desk can’t be the cause of my neck pain.”

It’s a perfectly reasonable assumption to make.

Many employers now carry out Display Screen Equipment (DSE) assessments to ensure workstations meet recommended ergonomic standards. The chair is adjusted correctly, the monitor is positioned at an appropriate height, the keyboard and mouse are within easy reach and the employee is given advice on how to sit comfortably.

These assessments are valuable. A poorly set up workstation can certainly contribute to discomfort, and correcting obvious ergonomic problems is an important first step.

However, a workstation assessment only tells us that the equipment has been adjusted correctly.

It doesn’t tell us how that workstation is used for the next eight or nine hours every working day.

As a myotherapist, that’s the part that interests me most.

A Good Workstation Doesn’t Guarantee Good Habits

One of the biggest misunderstandings surrounding office-related pain is the belief that once the workstation has been adjusted, the problem has been solved.

In reality, the workstation is only one part of the equation.

The other part is the person sitting at it.

Most people begin their working day sitting reasonably well. They position themselves comfortably, adjust their chair and settle into work.

As the day progresses, concentration increases, deadlines approach and meetings fill the diary. Without realising it, posture begins to change.

People lean forwards towards the screen when reading detailed information. They rest more heavily on one side of the chair. One shoulder gradually lifts while using the mouse. They reach slightly further than necessary for the keyboard, or sit through several online meetings without standing once.

None of these positions are unusual, and none are necessarily harmful on their own.

The problem is repetition.

Our muscles are remarkably tolerant of movement, but they are much less enthusiastic about remaining under low levels of tension for hours at a time.

The Modern Office Looks Very Different

Office work has changed dramatically over the last twenty years.

Many people remember offices where movement happened naturally throughout the day. You walked to filing cabinets, delivered paperwork to colleagues, attended meetings in different rooms and frequently stood up to discuss projects.

Today’s office is much more efficient, but also much more static.

Emails replace conversations.

Teams meetings replace walking to a meeting room.

Cloud storage replaces filing cabinets.

Artificial intelligence is helping people complete tasks more quickly than ever before.

Technology has undoubtedly improved productivity, but it has also removed many of the reasons we used to get out of our chairs.

It is now entirely possible to spend several hours working continuously without taking more than a few steps.

From a musculoskeletal perspective, that presents a challenge.

The human body is designed to move regularly throughout the day. It adapts well to changing positions, but far less well to remaining in one position for prolonged periods.

There Is No Such Thing as Perfect Posture

People are often surprised when I tell them that I am not looking for perfect posture.

There isn’t a single sitting position that protects every muscle in the body.

In fact, even excellent posture becomes uncomfortable if it is maintained long enough.

A useful way to think about this is standing in a queue. You might begin by standing upright with good posture, but after an hour most people naturally shift their weight, move their feet or change position. They do this because the body prefers movement over stillness.

Sitting is no different.

The aim is not to sit perfectly all day.

The aim is to avoid remaining in exactly the same position for hours at a time.

Multiple Monitors Can Introduce Their Own Problems

Another change I have noticed over recent years is the increasing number of people working with two, three or even four computer monitors.

These workstations often look impressive and are designed to improve productivity by allowing several applications to remain open simultaneously.

There is nothing inherently wrong with multiple monitors.

However, they can encourage repetitive movement patterns that are easy to overlook.

Imagine someone working with four screens.

One displays Outlook.

Another is used for Microsoft Teams.

One contains spreadsheets.

The fourth holds the project they spend most of their day working on.

Before long, one of those screens naturally becomes the one they look at most often.

Without consciously noticing it, they begin spending much of the day with their head turned slightly towards that monitor.

The rotation may only be fifteen or twenty degrees, but it is repeated hundreds, sometimes thousands, of times throughout the working week.

The muscles supporting the neck and shoulders continually adjust to these repeated movements. Over time it is not unusual for one side of the neck or upper shoulder to begin feeling tighter or more fatigued than the other.

This doesn’t happen because multiple monitors are dangerous.

It happens because small, repeated movements performed over long periods gradually increase muscular workload.

What a Workstation Assessment Cannot Measure

A workstation assessment is usually carried out at a single moment in time.

It confirms that the equipment has been positioned appropriately.

What it cannot measure is how your posture changes throughout the day.

It cannot see you leaning forwards every time you concentrate.

It cannot see your shoulders gradually rising during a stressful deadline.

It cannot see you sitting through three consecutive meetings without standing.

Nor can it measure the cumulative effect of repeating these habits every working day for months or years.

That is why it is entirely possible to have a workstation that meets every ergonomic recommendation and still develop persistent neck, shoulder or upper back pain.

Looking Beyond the Furniture

When someone attends Myotherapy Clinic with office-related pain, I am interested in much more than the height of their monitor.

I want to understand how they work.

How often do they stand?

Which screen do they naturally look at?

Do they spend hours using the mouse?

Do they work under constant time pressure?

Do they change position regularly, or remain almost completely still?

These questions often provide far more useful information than the workstation itself.

Pain rarely develops because of one dramatic event.

More often it reflects the accumulation of thousands of small habits repeated day after day.

Small Changes Often Produce Meaningful Results

Many people assume they need a new chair or an expensive standing desk.

Sometimes those changes are appropriate.

More often, however, the greatest improvements come from changing behaviour rather than changing furniture.

Standing for a couple of minutes every half hour.

Alternating your primary monitor when possible.

Allowing your shoulders to relax before continuing with a task.

Walking during phone calls.

Stretching briefly between meetings.

Simply becoming aware of the habits that develop during periods of concentration can significantly reduce the amount of unnecessary muscular tension that builds throughout the day.

The Take-Home Message

A workstation assessment is an excellent starting point, and every employer should take office ergonomics seriously.

However, it should never be viewed as the final answer.

The assessment evaluates your workstation.

It cannot evaluate your habits.

If your neck, shoulders or back continue to trouble you despite having a well-designed workstation, it doesn’t necessarily mean anything has been done incorrectly.

It may simply mean your body is responding to the way you use that workstation over many hours, every day.

At Myotherapy Clinic, my role is not simply to reduce muscle tension. It is to help identify the everyday movement patterns that contribute to discomfort, explain why they occur and work with you to develop practical strategies that keep you moving more comfortably throughout your working week.

After all, your workstation may have passed the assessment, but your body still has a story to tell.