By Rosemary Desmond

BRISBANE, Feb 22 AAP -

Most head and neck pain in office workers stemmed from the way they sat and the way they used their computers, according to Dr Peter Tuchin (Tuchin), a lecturer at the Department of Chiropractic (Chiropractic) at Sydney's Macquarie University.

Very few workplaces had "a good ergonomic set-up", Dr Tuchin told AAP.

The height of most office workers' computer monitors was either set too low or the screen was set off to one side, so that the user had to permanently rotate their neck to see it.

Using a phone at the same time as the computer was another health hazard for office workers.

"They are often slightly twisted to one side and if you put a mouse in between that as well it makes it even worse," Dr Tuchin said.

Sitting for long periods without getting up and moving around increased muscle fatigue and strain, leading to neck pain, stiffness and headaches, he said.

The nationwide cost in terms of lost productivity, treatment costs and sick pay had been estimated at $2 billion a year and did not even take into account pain and suffering and the impact on families, Dr Tuchin said.

Stress and tension in the office also contributed to the risk of head and neck pain, and the risk increased the longer the hours worked.

"We've found that well over 90 per cent of people cited stress as one of the main causes of their headaches and migraines," Dr Tuchin said.

"That includes physical stress as well, directly linking to poor posture."

One way to help people avoid the head, neck and back problems of later life was to teach them how to sit and stand properly as children, he said.

"We are not really taught how to sit yet we are taught how to do just about everything else," he said.

"If you add up how many hours a day we are sitting, it is ridiculous that there is not more teaching and training in posture and ergonomics."

Parents and teachers could also help children avoid back and spinal problems by insisting they wear backpacks correctly and not slung over one shoulder and that they should not carry too much weight in the bags.

Dr Tuchin will present his findings this weekend to the Australian Spinal Research Foundation's annual conference being held on the Gold Coast.

AAP rad/sc/cjh