Why Workspace Ergonomics are Important: My Personal Story

Reduced flexibility, stiff muscles, and painful muscle contractions in my neck and back have slowly started reminding me of the neglect. The neglect I rendered by ignoring my workspace ergonomics, and today, I feel like the Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz.

While working efficiently on my laptop was prioritised, I sidelined working in a comfortable and healthy workspace—ergonomics. Had the position of the computer keyboard, mouse, monitor, and chair type been planned, the strain endured by my muscles owing to poor posture could have been avoided or at least reduced.

CONTENT

• Muscle Fibrosis: How It Made Me Stiff and Less Flexible

1. What is Muscle Fibrosis?

   1. Muscle Fibrosis: Fibre Replacement Gone Wrong

2. Making Sense of It All: It’s Not Rocket Science

• How Physiotherapy Relieves My Stiff, 'Rusty' Muscles

1. Physiotherapy: The Tin Man in Pain Found her Dorothy

• Workspace Ergonomics and Exercise: A Lifelong Effort

I am certain that you have read or watched the movie The Wizard of Oz. I remember, at nine years of age, reading the story as I coloured the characters in a unique colouring storybook with delight.

In The Wizard of Oz, a wicked witch is responsible for a woodcutter turning into a Tin Man from a human. Tin Man, a.k.a. Tin Woodman, lives on to rust and loses mobility. Dorothy, the protagonist, restores the Tin Man's mobility with oil, like anything metal.

In my story, however, I am responsible for the 'rusting' of my muscles. Well, I wasn't immobile, but I was definitely compromised. Even lying down to sleep was dreadful, as my neck muscles protested with spasms. Where was my Dorothy?

Muscle Fibrosis: How It Made Me Stiff and Less Flexible

Homes in metropolitan cities like Tokyo and Yokohama in Japan are renowned for being cramped and expensive. Living in small spaces accommodates limited furniture, the best scenario for minimalistic living.

With time, I became obsessed (still am) with a sustainable and minimalistic style of living. Ergonomic tables, chairs, and laptop accessories were admired and forgotten as I left IKEA.

Now, I realise that some things cannot be compromised, like an ergonomic workspace.

What is Muscle Fibrosis?

I was diagnosed with muscle fibrosis when I visited a specialist in India. Muscle fibrosis—what's that?

We know of the body's muscles. But did you know they have intricate structures called muscle fibres? Muscle fibres are elastic and flexible, like rubber bands. Hence, muscles are bundles of rubber bands (muscle fibres) held together by a protective covering called connective tissue.

Imagine stretching a rubber band and slowly releasing the strain; the rubber band retains its original form. Next, imagine overstretching the rubber band. Thereupon, microtears may occur, allowing overstretching. Doing this repeatedly for a longer duration exerts a strain and gradually snaps the rubber band.

Similarly, our lifestyle, including posture, activities, and exercises, can cause microtears in our muscles. Slouching while using a laptop, for instance, overstretches the muscle fibres in your neck and upper back as you lean forward for a long time, potentially causing microtears.

However, in my case, repeated long-duration slouching behaviours challenged, overused, and overstrained the muscle fibres, resulting in major muscle injuries. But how did this happen in spite of our body having repair mechanisms?

Our body tries and repairs damages when we rest (sleep): the overworked, damaged elastic fibres of our muscles are repaired with new muscle fibres to restore their function—muscle healing.

But know that repairs have their shortcomings. For context, tiny tears in rubber bands may be fixed by applying heat or super glue. However, doing so gradually reduces their elasticity, and they can snap under stress.

Likewise, repeated repairs to the microinjuries in the muscle fibres affect their elasticity. Though the damaged muscle fibres are replaced entirely, repeated injuries overwork the healing system, similar to a burnt-out worker.

Muscle Fibrosis: Fibre Replacement Gone Wrong

Initially, the cleaning crew—our immune system’s inflammatory cells—clear the damaged muscle fibres. Once done, the repair crew is notified to begin their work.

Like scaffolding—a temporary structure that helps the construction crew with repairs—collagen (you read that right!) is a biological scaffold set at the site of injury. Following the normal course of muscle repair/healing, these biological scaffoldings are broken down and removed.

However, repeated repair demands (from repeated behaviours and injuries) overwhelm the repair crew. Excessive scaffolds are set at the site of injury, hindering the replacement of damaged muscle fibres with new ones. Instead, the cleared-off debris is patched up with scaffold materials, i.e., collagen. This replacement of elastic muscle fibres with non-elastic collagen is a scar.

Yes! The very collagen that makes your skin firm, plump, and youthful, when in the muscles, makes them stiff and less functional. Therefore, fibrosis—specifically, muscle fibrosis—is the replacement of traumatised or injured muscle fibres with connective tissue scars.

Normal course of muscle healing (bonus information below)

Getting to know the crew and their responsibilities

1. The cleaning crew: Neutrophils—a type of white blood cell (WBC)—clear the damaged muscle fibres. Once done, they intimate the other crew members like macrophages—another white blood cell (WBC) type—via a chemical messenger—cytokines.

2. The project manager: Macrophages recruit the repair crew to the site of injury through regulated inflammation. Excessive and prolonged inflammation can disrupt the balanced muscle injury repair.

3. The repair crew: Inflammation (controlled) is the cue for the repair crew to set up the scaffold and for the repairs to begin. Myofibroblasts assemble the biological scaffold—collagen. Once ready, muscle stem cells—satellite cells—begin repairing the injured muscle tissues.

4. Myofibroblasts are taken off site once the collagen scaffolds serve their purpose.

Making Sense of It All: It’s Not Rocket Science

As an aspiring writer, I slouched over my laptop while working, as if hypnotised by it. I can't imagine the strain my muscles were under as I spent most of my working hours in this posture. Unable to keep up with the demanding repairs, my muscles fibrosed.

With muscle fibrosis, the elasticity of my upper back muscles reduced, gradually making me less flexible and stiff like the Tin Man. To help you understand, I put on my socks by bringing my feet closer to my body instead of bending my upper back!

Fibrosed muscles, due to prolonged poor posture and strain, are weak, thereby exerting pressure on the nerves and causing pain.

How Physiotherapy Relieves My Stiff, 'Rusty' Muscles

'Humans are not designed for a sedentary lifestyle involving prolonged sitting.'

The specialist had three non-negotiable pointers for me:

• No prolonged sitting: move or stretch every few minutes.

• Manage a good posture: lower back is supported, knees at or above the hip level, and screen at eye level and placed an arm’s length away.

• Physiotherapy

Physiotherapy: The Tin Man in Pain Found her Dorothy

The oil to my 'rusted' muscles was upper-back stretching and strengthening exercises. Unlike the Tin Man, it will take a long time before I regain my muscle flexibility completely. However, I can feel the difference already—I can bend to put on my socks.

Customised stretching exercises recommended by my physiotherapist work their magic by reducing the accumulated collagen in the muscles. Visualise slowly removing a rushed 'collagen' patch-up job for proper repair.

Also, the inflammation (swelling) at the site of muscle fibrosis is reduced, allowing the muscles to regenerate or heal. Furthermore, the pressure on the nerves is relieved, alleviating pain.

Workspace Ergonomics and Exercise: A Lifelong Effort

When work demands that we push ourselves, always prioritise your health. An ergonomic workplace with good posture, productive breaks with exercise (especially when working on a laptop), and commitment to customised home exercises that target specific muscles can help prevent muscle fibrosis.

If you are someone who spends too much time on your laptop, how do you make yourself comfortable? If you have any additional tips, leave a comment; I would love to read them and see how I can fit it into my schedule.

References

Cholok, D., Lee, E., Lisiecki, J., Agarwal, S., Loder, S., Ranganathan, K., Qureshi, A. T., Davis, T. A., & Levi, B. (2017). Traumatic muscle fibrosis: From pathway to prevention. The Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, 82(1), 174–184. https://doi.org/10.1097/TA.0000000000001290

Dewi, N. M., Meiliana, A., Defi, I. R., Amalia, R., Sartika, C. R., Wijaya, A., & Barliana, M. I. (2025). Targeted Therapy for Skeletal Muscle Fibrosis: Regulation of Myostatin, TGF-β, MMP, and TIMP to Maintain Extracellular Matrix Homeostasis. Biologics: Targets and Therapy, 19, 213–229. https://doi.org/10.2147/BTT.S508221

Ergonomics & computer use | university health services. (n.d.). Retrieved April 17, 2025, from https://uhs.princeton.edu/health-resources/ergonomics-computer-use

Temple researchers reverse muscle fibrosis from overuse injury in animals, raising hope for clinical trials in humans | Temple health. (n.d.). Retrieved April 17, 2025, from https://www.templehealth.org/about/news/temple-researchers-reverse-muscle-fibrosis-from-overuse-injury-in-animals-raising-hope-for-clinical-trials-in-humans

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