There are many ways to avoid shoulder pain. Being office workers, we are very prone to neck and shoulder overuse for most of the day. I used to sit all day with my hands on the keyboard and mouse at least 8 hours a day. Holding this vulnerable position caused excessive internal shoulder rotation. In addition to those long periods at work, my poor hand position while driving was putting my shoulder muscles right back in that same internally rotated, poor posture position.
The combination of poor computer posture and poor driving posture added up to be a minimum 9 hours of my day. My hands and arms were overused. I had neck and shoulder pain at work and in the car. Eventually, these repetitive strain injuries became chronic. I’d deal with them regardless of what I was doing. This affected me during exercise. It even affected me when I slept, because my shoulders were stuck in that internally rotated position. Our muscles are meant to be strong and resilient. However, they aren’t meant to be held in the exact same position for 8 or more hours a day.
The point of this article isn’t to tell you exactly where correct hand positioning is on the steering wheel. In my opinion, it’s not that simple. A typical driver’s ed course told us to put them at “10 o’clock and 2 o’clock.” But that could be what’s making our internal shoulder rotation worse. Here’s an example…
Years ago, I would suffer from back pain daily. But when I went to Paris for a work trip, my back pain mysteriously went away. I parked my car in the airport garage before I flew out of the United States. When we got to Paris, it was a very busy week. We were on our feet all day for 5 days. We worked a booth in a convention center. When we traveled around the city, we took public transportation (trains and taxis). I actually felt great all week. I didn’t have any back pain.
Naturally, I hoped my back pain was gone for good. But the key variable of that week is: I did not drive all week. When I landed at the airport back home, I got in my car to drive for the first time in 7 days. It was only a 10 minute drive home. But by the time I got home, my back pain had returned. Just from a 10 minute drive. This was pretty eye-opening. I immediately started wondering how I could improve my sitting posture while driving. Today, I’ll talk about the good posture changes I’ve made. Hopefully, they’ll help you improve your posture and decrease your pain at work, especially if you drive a lot.
You might be wondering what driving has to do with back pain. For me, it all started with my hand placement on the steering wheel. If my hands cause me to internally rotate my shoulders too much, that’s going to increase muscle tension throughout my arms, shoulders, and chest. All these muscles are being overused and compressed, shortening them over time.
On the other hand, everything in our bodies is connected. Muscles and tendons especially. Every action causes a reaction. In this case, the action is putting our hands on a steering wheel or keyboard and mouse. The primary reaction is: all the muscles on the front of our bodies are being compressed. This causes a secondary reaction, overusing and overextended our back muscles, lengthening them over time. I’m more likely to feel pain in muscles that are overextended, versus muscles that are compressed. This is what was causing my back pain while I was in sitting posture for long periods of time.
This article is not professional medical advice. It’s for educational purposes only. I write about my opinions and my personal experience. I write about the poor posture mistakes I’ve made. Then, I write about the good posture fixes that helped me improve posture. Do your research. Make good decisions. And be the best possible advocate you can be for your own healthcare.
How to hold a steering wheel properly
Use comfortable, correct hand positioning.
Correct hand positioning on the steering wheel grip, for me, is anywhere on the steering wheel that doesn’t internally rotate my shoulders too much. 10 o’clock and 2 o’clock tends to create some internal rotation for me. Not a lot. But a decent amount. So I tend to grip the steering wheel slightly outside these positions.
But I will change my hand placement on the steering wheel often. Because even if we have good driving posture, holding the same position for long periods of time can still cause repetitive strain, overuse injuries, muscle tension, and muscle pain. I maintain a steering wheel grip that doesn’t cause a lot of activation in my arms or shoulders. Because that would compress and shorten my chest muscles. This action would cause a reaction of overextension and lengthening throughout my back muscles. This affects my upper back and even down into my lower back.
Be mindful of the natural curves in your spine.
The reason poor driving posture caused pain in my lower back is because I wasn’t conscious of my lumbar curve. Holding a steering wheel, or keyboard and mouse, can cause us to have poor posture in our spine. The natural curves in our spines flatten out, which can cause back muscle pain, back muscle tension, and spinal disc degeneration.
The photo above is a great example of the natural curves in the spine. We want to maintain this balanced, neutral spine as much as possible. Especially, when we are in driving posture for long periods of time.
The above photo is an example of different stages in spinal disc degeneration. This is what happens when we don’t maintain the natural curves in the spine. I was heading down a long, painful road of disc degeneration back in 2011. That was the year I took full accountability for my poor posture, both while driving and sitting at a computer for long periods of time. I adopted as many good posture habits as I could, practicing them on a consistent basis each day.
Understand the back rest of your driver’s seat (and whether or not it promotes good posture).
I rarely flatten my back completely against my driver’s seat. Doing so would often cause me to lose the natural curves in my spine. Sitting in this poor posture position for long periods will definitely cause me back pain.
Don’t get me wrong. I do take advantage of the back rest. I don’t sit up straight without touching it. But I’m very conscious of which part of my back to rest against the driver seat. I want to relieve pressure and gravity that takes a toll on my torso. I don’t want to rest my entire back on the back rest if it’s going to put stress on the natural curves in my spine.
Look at the photo above. Although it’s not technically a driving posture, it’s a perfect example of understanding the back rest and maintaining the natural curves in the spine. Notice how the user doesn’t flatten out his entire back on the back rest. This allows him to maintain the lumbar curve in his lower back.
Thanks for your interest in computer posture.
If this article was helpful, check out my book titled “45 Ways to Improve Computer Posture.” It’s available in both digital and paperback versions.
>>> Click here to pick up your copy
This book explains how to improve your posture through different variables of health and wellness. These include computer ergonomics, sleep, hydration, and breathing. Poor posture is not just how we sit at a computer. The health habits we practice, 24 hours a day, are directly related to how good (or bad) our computer posture is.
Go to SittingPosture.com/book to learn more.
Take care,
Todd Bowen
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