A Desk Worker's Guide to Preventing Chronic Back Pain in Ann Arbor

By Dr. Tim Dehr, DC, CCSP | Performance Health Chiropractic

If you work at a desk in Ann Arbor—whether you're at U-M, one of the downtown tech companies, or working remotely from home—there's a good chance your back hurts right now. Or if it doesn't hurt yet, it probably will soon.

I see a lot of desk workers in my practice. They come in with the same complaints: lower back pain that gets worse as the day goes on, upper back tension that won't go away, neck stiffness that makes driving uncomfortable, and that nagging feeling that sitting all day is slowly destroying their spine.

And here's the thing—they're not wrong.

Eight hours a day, five days a week, fifty weeks a year. That's over 2,000 hours a year sitting in the same position, hunched over a keyboard, staring at a screen. Your body wasn't designed for that. And it's going to let you know.

But chronic back pain from desk work isn't inevitable. You don't have to just accept it as part of having an office job. There are specific, actionable things you can do to protect your spine, reduce pain, and prevent the kind of chronic dysfunction that makes getting out of a chair feel like a major undertaking.

Here's what actually works—not the generic "sit up straight" advice you've heard a thousand times, but the biomechanical reality of what's happening to your body when you sit all day and what you can do about it.

Please note: This article is for informational purposes only and is not medical advice. If you're experiencing persistent or severe back pain, consult with a healthcare provider.

The Real Problem With Sitting All Day

Let's start with what's actually happening to your body when you sit at a desk for eight hours.

Your hip flexors get tight. The hip flexors are the muscles at the front of your hips that lift your knee toward your chest. When you sit, these muscles are in a shortened position all day. Over time, they adapt to that shortened position and become tight. When you stand up, those tight hip flexors pull your pelvis forward, which increases the curve in your lower back and puts extra stress on your lumbar spine.

This is why so many desk workers have lower back pain that gets worse when they stand or walk after sitting for a long time. It's not that standing hurts—it's that their tight hip flexors are pulling their pelvis out of alignment, which loads the lower back incorrectly.

Your glutes stop working. Your glutes (the muscles in your buttocks) are supposed to be some of the strongest, most active muscles in your body. They stabilize your pelvis and support your lower back. But when you sit all day, they don't do anything. They essentially shut off.

This is called "glute amnesia," and it's incredibly common in desk workers. When your glutes aren't firing properly, other muscles—particularly your lower back muscles—have to compensate. That compensation creates strain, and that strain creates pain.

Your posture shifts forward. When you're focused on a computer screen, your head naturally shifts forward. For every inch your head moves forward from its neutral position, it adds about 10 pounds of force to your neck and upper back muscles. So if your head is 2-3 inches forward (which is common when you're leaning toward a screen), your neck and upper back are supporting an extra 20-30 pounds all day.

This forward head posture creates tension in your upper back, neck, and shoulders. It also causes your shoulders to round forward and your upper back to curve more than it should (increased thoracic kyphosis). This puts stress on your mid-back and can contribute to tension headaches.

Your lower back curve increases. To compensate for the forward posture of your head and shoulders, your lower back often increases its curve (lumbar lordosis). This is your body's way of trying to keep you upright and balanced. But an excessive lumbar curve puts pressure on the facet joints in your lower spine and compresses the discs in your lower back.

Over time, this can lead to chronic lower back pain, disc problems, and even sciatica if a disc bulges and compresses a nerve.

Your spinal discs get compressed. When you sit, the pressure on your spinal discs increases significantly compared to standing or lying down. That pressure, sustained over hours every day, can cause the discs to lose hydration and height. This is one reason why people who sit all day often develop disc degeneration earlier than people with more active jobs.

All of these things compound over time. A few months of desk work might just cause occasional stiffness. A few years can create chronic dysfunction that's harder to reverse.

The Ann Arbor Desk Worker Reality

If you work in Ann Arbor, you're probably familiar with some version of this daily routine:

You commute to campus or downtown (maybe 20-30 minutes in the car with your seat tilted back, adding more hip flexor tightness and lower back compression). You sit at your desk for 2-3 hours. You grab lunch (maybe sitting again). You sit for another 3-4 hours. You drive home (more sitting). You sit on the couch to decompress from the day.

Add it up: 8 hours at your desk + 1 hour commuting + 2 hours at home = 11 hours of sitting.

And if you work from home? It's often worse, because you don't even get the walk from the parking structure to your office or the movement between meetings. You just move from your desk chair to your kitchen chair to your couch.

A lot of my patients who work at U-M, at tech companies like Duo Security (now Cisco), or at downtown firms like Google's Ann Arbor office tell me the same thing: they know sitting all day is bad for them, but they don't know what to actually do about it. Standing desks help some, but they're not a perfect solution. And "just move more" is easier said than done when you're in back-to-back meetings or trying to hit a deadline.

So let's talk about what actually works.

What You Can Do About It

1. Understand Your Setup (Ergonomics That Actually Matter)

Everyone talks about ergonomics, but most people don't know what "good ergonomics" actually means beyond "get an expensive chair."

Here's what actually matters:

Monitor height: Your monitor should be at eye level or slightly below when you're sitting with your head in a neutral position (not tilted forward or back). If you're looking down at your laptop screen all day, your head is probably shifted forward 2-3 inches, creating that extra 20-30 pounds of force on your neck.

Solution: Get a laptop stand or a separate monitor. Raise your screen so you're looking straight ahead, not down.

Keyboard and mouse position: Your keyboard should be at a height where your elbows are at about 90 degrees and your shoulders are relaxed (not shrugged up). Your mouse should be at the same level as your keyboard, close enough that you don't have to reach for it.

If you're reaching forward or up for your keyboard and mouse, you're creating tension in your shoulders and upper back all day.

Chair support: Your chair should support the natural curve of your lower back. Most office chairs have adjustable lumbar support—use it. If your chair doesn't have lumbar support, put a small rolled towel or lumbar pillow behind your lower back.

Your feet should be flat on the floor (or on a footrest if your desk is too high). If your feet are dangling or you're sitting on one foot, your pelvis is tilted and your spine is compensating.

Sitting position: Sit all the way back in your chair so your lower back is supported. Your hips should be slightly higher than your knees (this keeps your pelvis in a more neutral position and reduces strain on your lower back).

I know this sounds basic, but most of the desk workers I see don't have an ideal ergonomic setup at work. And those small misalignments, sustained over hours every day, create chronic dysfunction.

2. Move Every 30-60 Minutes (And I Mean Actually Move)

"Take breaks and move around" is generic advice that everyone ignores because it's not specific enough.

Here's what I tell my patients: Set a timer for 45 minutes. When it goes off, stand up and do 2-3 minutes of movement. Not just standing—actual movement.

Here are three simple movements that target the biggest problems desk workers face:

Hip flexor stretch: Step one foot forward into a lunge position. Drop your back knee toward the ground (you can put a pad or towel under it). Push your hips forward gently until you feel a stretch at the front of your back hip. Hold for 30 seconds. Switch sides.

This counteracts the hip flexor tightness from sitting and helps restore normal pelvic alignment.

Glute activation: Stand up. Squeeze your glutes as hard as you can for 5 seconds. Release. Repeat 10 times.

This reminds your glutes how to fire and helps counteract glute amnesia.

Thoracic extension: Stand or sit. Place your hands behind your head. Gently arch backward, focusing on your mid-back (not your lower back). Hold for 5 seconds. Repeat 5 times.

This counteracts the forward-rounded posture from leaning toward your screen.

These three movements take less than 3 minutes total. Do them every hour, and you'll notice a difference in how you feel at the end of the day.

3. Strengthen What Sitting Weakens

Moving every hour helps, but it's not enough if you're sitting 8+ hours a day. You also need to actively strengthen the muscles that sitting weakens.

The two most important areas to focus on:

Core strength (especially your deep core stabilizers). Your core muscles—particularly your transverse abdominis and your multifidus (small stabilizing muscles along your spine)—are supposed to support your spine all day. But when you sit in a chair with a backrest, these muscles don't have to work. They get weak.

Weak core = your spine doesn't have proper support = your lower back has to work harder = pain.

You don't need a complicated core workout. Planks, dead bugs, and bird dogs are simple, effective exercises that build core stability without requiring a gym.

Glute strength. Remember how sitting shuts off your glutes? You need to wake them back up and make them strong.

Bridges, clamshells, and single-leg deadlifts are all effective glute-strengthening exercises that you can do at home with no equipment.

I'm not suggesting you become a gym rat. But 10-15 minutes, 3-4 times a week, focusing on core and glute strength will make a significant difference in how your back feels.

4. Address the Damage Before It Becomes Chronic

Here's the reality: if you've been working at a desk for years, you probably already have some dysfunction. Tight hip flexors, weak glutes, forward head posture, restrictions in your mid-back—these things don't just go away because you start standing up every hour.

This is where chiropractic care comes in.

I can't tell you how many times I've had a patient come in and say, "I've been doing stretches and exercises for months, but my back still hurts." When I examine them, I find significant restrictions in their thoracic spine (mid-back) or misalignment in their pelvis that's preventing the stretches and exercises from being effective.

You can stretch your hip flexors all day, but if your pelvis is tilted and your lower back is locked up, those stretches aren't going to fix the problem. You need to restore proper alignment and mobility first. Then the stretches and exercises actually work.

Clinical guidelines from the American College of Physicians recommend spinal manipulation as a first-line treatment for acute and chronic low back pain, often before medication. For desk workers dealing with mechanical back pain—the kind caused by postural dysfunction, muscle imbalances, and joint restrictions—chiropractic care can be particularly effective.

Regular chiropractic adjustments can:

• Restore normal motion to restricted joints in your spine
• Reduce muscle tension and improve flexibility
• Correct postural imbalances before they become chronic
• Identify and address dysfunction early, before it turns into significant pain

A lot of desk workers wait until they're in constant pain before they do anything about it. By that point, it takes longer to fix. If you address the dysfunction early—when you're just noticing stiffness or occasional discomfort—it's much easier to correct.

5. The Standing Desk Question

I get asked about standing desks all the time. Are they worth it?

The short answer: they can help, but they're not a magic solution.

Standing all day has its own problems. It can create foot pain, knee pain, and lower back fatigue if you're not used to it. And a lot of people who get standing desks end up standing with terrible posture—hips shifted to one side, one knee locked, slouching forward—which just creates different problems.

If you're going to use a standing desk, here's what I recommend:

Alternate between sitting and standing. Don't stand all day. Sit for an hour, stand for 30-45 minutes, sit for an hour, stand for 30-45 minutes. Vary it throughout the day.

Use an anti-fatigue mat. This reduces stress on your feet and knees when you're standing.

Pay attention to your posture. Stand with your weight evenly distributed on both feet, knees slightly soft (not locked), core engaged. Don't just stand there slouching—that defeats the purpose.

Move while you stand. Shift your weight, do calf raises, march in place. Standing still for an hour isn't much better than sitting still for an hour.

A standing desk is a tool, not a solution. It can be part of a comprehensive approach to preventing desk-related back pain, but it's not going to fix everything on its own.

When You Need More Than Self-Care

Look, I'm all for self-care and prevention. The stretches, the exercises, the ergonomic setup—all of that matters, and I encourage everyone to do it.

But sometimes, it's not enough.

If you've been dealing with lower back pain, upper back pain, or neck pain for months, and the stretches and exercises aren't making a difference, there's probably underlying dysfunction that needs to be addressed by someone who knows what they're doing.

I've treated a lot of desk workers over the years—U-M faculty and staff, people who work downtown, remote workers who've been sitting in less-than-ideal home office setups. The common thread is that by the time they come see me, they've usually been dealing with pain for months and have tried a bunch of things that didn't work.

The good news is that desk-related back pain is very treatable. Once we identify what's actually causing the problem—whether it's pelvic misalignment, thoracic restrictions, tight hip flexors pulling everything out of whack, or some combination—we can address it with adjustments, specific exercises, and postural corrections.

Most people feel significantly better within a few weeks of consistent treatment. And once we get the dysfunction corrected, the stretches and exercises they were already doing actually start working the way they're supposed to.

Frequently Asked Questions About Desk Work and Back Pain

How often should I get adjusted if I work at a desk?

It depends on your current condition and goals. If you're dealing with active pain, you might need to come in 2-3 times a week initially until we get the dysfunction corrected. Once you're feeling better, many desk workers benefit from maintenance adjustments every 2-4 weeks to keep their spine moving well and prevent problems from building up again. Think of it like going to the dentist—regular preventive care is easier than waiting until you have a major problem.

Do I really need a standing desk?

No, you don't need one. A standing desk can be helpful if you use it correctly (alternating between sitting and standing, maintaining good posture while standing), but it's not necessary. You can prevent most desk-related back pain with proper ergonomics, regular movement breaks, and strengthening exercises. If you do get a standing desk, don't expect it to solve everything on its own—you still need to move regularly and maintain good posture.

Will my back pain go away if I just improve my posture?

Sometimes, yes. If you catch it early and your dysfunction is mild, fixing your ergonomics and being more mindful of your posture can resolve the problem. But if you've been sitting with poor posture for years, you likely have restrictions in your spine and imbalances in your muscles that won't correct themselves just by "sitting up straight." That's when you need hands-on treatment to restore normal function before the postural changes will stick.

Can I do the stretches and exercises at my desk?

Most of them, yes. The hip flexor stretch requires a little space, but the glute activation and thoracic extension can be done right at your desk. The key is actually doing them consistently—set a timer so you don't forget.

How long does it take to fix desk-related back pain?

It varies. Acute pain from a recent flare-up might resolve in a few weeks with the right treatment. Chronic dysfunction that's been building for years typically takes longer—maybe 6-12 weeks of consistent treatment and home exercises. The longer you've had the problem, the longer it usually takes to correct. This is why addressing it early matters.

Should I stretch before or after work?

Both, if possible. Stretching your hip flexors and doing some thoracic mobility work in the morning before you start your workday can help set you up for better posture throughout the day. Stretching after work helps undo some of the tightness that built up during the day. But the most important stretching is the movement breaks you take throughout the day—those prevent the dysfunction from building up in the first place.

The Bottom Line

Sitting at a desk all day creates predictable, preventable problems: tight hip flexors, weak glutes, forward head posture, increased stress on your lower back and mid-back, and compressed spinal discs.

Left unchecked, these problems lead to chronic pain, stiffness, and dysfunction that can significantly impact your quality of life.

But you don't have to just accept back pain as part of having a desk job.

Fix your ergonomics. Move every hour. Strengthen your core and glutes. Address dysfunction early before it becomes chronic.

And if you're already dealing with pain that isn't getting better with self-care, get it checked out. The longer you wait, the longer it takes to fix.

If you work at a desk in Ann Arbor and you're tired of dealing with back pain, we can help. Call (734) 929-4523 or schedule online. We're located at 2330 E Stadium Blvd, just off of U-M's campus, and we work with a lot of desk workers who are dealing with exactly what you're dealing with.

About Dr. Tim Dehr

Dr. Tim Dehr is a chiropractor and Certified Chiropractic Sports Physician (CCSP) practicing in Ann Arbor, Michigan. A former University of Michigan varsity gymnast and Big Ten Champion, Dr. Dehr has worked with competitive and professional athletes including 3-time Olympian Sam Mikulak and over 50 NFL players. He has provided care to US Olympic athletes preparing for the Tokyo 2021 and Paris 2024 Games. At Performance Health Chiropractic, Dr. Dehr brings this same level of biomechanical expertise to all patients—from weekend warriors to desk workers—focusing on identifying root causes rather than just managing symptoms.

This blog post is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. If you're experiencing persistent or severe back pain, consult with a healthcare provider to determine the most appropriate treatment for your condition.