Sharolyn Bates' back has been hurting for years. From her neck and shoulders down into her legs, the St. Mary's Hospital office manager is in aching, shooting pain, and nobody can tell her why.

"It's just unbearable," she said. "It's like something is sitting there, you know, like resting on my nerves."

Bates has gone through a variety of medical tests, and they've all come back normal.

Her muscles are in an almost constant state of spasm, said St. Mary's massage therapist Stephen Naylor, who gives her a massage nearly every day.

"Across her upper shoulders it almost feels like it turns to concrete," he said. "It's very, very knotted."

Bates spends most of her day sitting in a chair in front of the computer. She's tried everything from adjusting the chair to shifting the angle of her monitor to alleviate the pain and strain.

"They said it could be bad posture, the way I sit or the chair, and I don't know," she said.

Naylor said he often gives massages to hospital employees seeking to reduce the strain their jobs put on their backs. He works with everyone from office staff members, who don't get the chance to change positions much during the day, to those with physically demanding jobs such as nurses and housekeepers.

"It varies, but you get a lower lumbar area, that's real typical," Naylor said of those who work in offices. " ¦ Probably the biggest complaint is lower back."

An aching back isn't necessarily a sign of aging or too much activity, local experts said. It could be caused by simply sitting or working with an incorrect posture. Dr. Mario Fucinari, director of Decatur Back and Neck Center, and Dr. Ronald Barnes of Decatur Memorial Hospital Corporate Health Services offered their tips on how to go about the workday to prevent the pain in those aching backs.

"An adjustable chair is the best at your workstation, and you need to remember that your body needs to be in a neutral position even when sitting," Fucinari said.

A correctly adjusted chair can help maintain posture, Barnes said. It should be adjustable in the backrest, seat height and angle.

Feet should be flat on the floor and the thigh should be parallel to the floor. The edge of the seat of a chair should not hit at the back of a person's leg. In that position, Fucinari said, it could cause compression on blood vessels or nerves.

"Most people get a comfy chair and sit, and it feels good, so they leave it where it is," Barnes said. "They should really sit down; try out different types of chairs to see what fits best."

Those who are shorter also might want to rest their feet on a bar, he advised.

"If you have casters, they should be supported," Fucinari said. Five-wheeled chairs are recommended for greater stability.

The entire back should make contact with the back of the chair, Fucinari advised. He said he read a study that revealed a person's back has to use two-thirds more energy when he or she doesn't use the back of a chair.

Those who slouch forward tend to have problems in the mid-back region, he said, adding that sitting and leaning forward actually put the greatest amount of pressure on a person's disks.

"Sometimes people will tell others, 'All I did was sit all weekend. I can't understand why my lower back hurts,' " he said. "In fact, that's the greatest amount of pressure on their back."

He advises patients who sit most of the day to take breaks at least once every hour and stretch by standing, interlacing their fingers behind their heads, putting their elbows out and leaning backward for five to 10 seconds.

Sitting on the legs also can cause pelvic or back problems.

"You can easily have misalignments within the pelvic region," Fucinari said.

Sitting at an awkward angle or sitting with one leg curled underneath the other can sprain a pelvic joint and lead to problems such as a pinched nerve down into a leg, he said.

In the upper body and arms, avoid contact stress with the desk, which can lead to pressure injuries of wrists and elbows, Barnes said. The height of a desk can minimize this type of injury and help keep the wrists in a neutral position.

Fucinari advised a 90-degree bend in the elbows and no bend in the wrist. Adjustable chair arms that can gently support the elbows take pressure off of the shoulders and, ultimately, the neck.

"The biggest problem now for wrist and back problems is actually with the laptop computer," Fucinari said. "Because a laptop if it's put on top of a table or on top of a desk, it's too high. If you put it on your lap, it's too low. Or if you're laying in the recliner or in bed with your laptop, it's even worse."

During free time, regular strength-training exercises that work the back are crucial in preventing long-term problems, he said.

At night, sleep habits can contribute to back problems, too. Fucinari recommends back or side sleeping, as stomach sleeping can place strain on the neck.

Mattresses should be turned every three months, he said. And although the type of pillow a person chooses is a personal preference, all pillows begin to wear down over time and should be replaced once a year.

Although most workplaces have education programs to help their employees prevent carpal tunnel syndrome, a disease caused by nerve compression in the wrist, Fucinari now sees the most cases among people who sleep with their arms bent up underneath their faces.

The first step toward avoiding chronic workplace maladies and pain caused by going about one's daily activities is a little extra attention to posture and surroundings, the experts said.

Annie Getsinger can be reached at agetsinger@herald-review.com or 421-6968.