The Ergonomic Benefits of Using a Monitor Arm

Monitor arms can make all the difference in your office, helping to relieve neck, back, and eye strain by positioning your body in the best posture for sitting or standing while working.

You can think of a monitor arm as a posture protector. It clasps your monitor, enabling you to adjust its height, position, and orientation. With a monitor that can adjust to your needs throughout the day, you will see improvements in your health, comfort, and productivity, because a more flexible monitor means a more flexible you. Instead of spending long days slumped in a chair, you have all the leverage you need to switch to a standing position by simply adjusting your monitor arm and raising the height of your screen.

Now, it’s common knowledge that exercise promotes a healthy lifestyle, while sitting presents a very real threat to our health goals. But where does standing fit in to all of this? When you spend more time in a standing position, you’re less likely to develop back and neck pain, which can interfere with both your work performance and your overall quality of life. Even active adults put themselves at increased risk of metabolic issues by spending too many hours a day sitting. And let’s face it—with our busy work schedules, how many of us actually find time to get the recommended 30-60 minutes of moderate physical activity each day?

Not surprisingly, exercising too little can lead to fatigue. But standing up straight at a desk instead of slouching in a chair can help relieve some of that exhaustion and improve concentration. After trying it for a few hours, you’ll likely notice that the transition from sitting to standing makes you feel more alert. It’s hard to maintain a straight spine while seated, especially during long daily shifts, when the physical effects of the workday are overshadowed by our assignments and responsibilities. Altering your position throughout the day will help stave off feelings of tiredness and boredom that might arise when working from home. By standing for part of each workday, then, you’re doing yourself a favor both physically and mentally—having an adjustable monitor arm is an essential piece of that puzzle.

Your back isn’t the only part of your body, though, that stands to benefit from having a monitor arm—in fact, your eyes could also benefit. Eyestrain from looking at a screen can cause discomfort, blurred vision, headaches, and other unpleasant symptoms. If you’re spending several hours a day in front of a screen, you want to be smart about it. That means positioning the screen about an arm’s length away, and making sure that the top of the screen is tilted somewhat away from your face. A triple-hinged monitor arm will allow you to control the screen’s position and angle with precision.

Monitor arms clearly contribute to healthier home offices. When used in tandem with standing desks, which help workers accomplish 45% more on a daily basis, a monitor arm can go a long way towards helping you do your best work, save time, and take care of your well-being. And if you’re used to working with two screens at once, double monitor arms, which accommodate two screens, will give

you all the flexibility you need to comfortably navigate the many tasks you need to keep track of during the day.

Ready to “arm” yourself against soreness and fatigue at work? Here’s what you need to know to select a monitor mount that’s right for you:

What to consider before you buy

Is your monitor VESA compliant?

A monitor that’s VESA compliant has holes drilled into the back that allow for any arm mount to attach to it. These holes will be in a pattern of either 75 x 75mm or 100 x 100mm. However, the pattern size can sometimes be increased for a bigger monitor. Always check the measurements to make sure the monitor arm will be compatible with your current monitor.

What type of adjustability do you need?

To make the most of your monitor arm, your main priority should be adjustability. You may want to consider both horizontal reach and vertical lift, which both depend on your own height as well as your workstation. For instance, some monitor arms have enough vertical lift that you can stand while viewing the screen even if it's mounted on a stationary desk.

What kind of mount is best for you?

If your setup is short-term, a free-standing desk mount (mounted towards the back of your desk with a weight) will be perfectly serviceable. You could also go for the slightly more secure desk clamp mount, which attaches to the back edge of your desk. For a more permanent arrangement, try a grommet mount, in which the supporting monitor arm feeds through a grommet hole that you'll need to drill into your desk.

At Branch, we offer a VESA compliant, triple-hinged monitor arm that can adjust to any number of positions in order to suit your posture-related needs. By cutting out the middle man in distribution, we keep prices on all of our offerings as low as they can possibly be—check out our Monitor Arm here.