Health
Ouch! My Back Hurts…
If one day you wake up to realise that moving the neck or the arms has become very difficult and your vision is blurry, it may give rise to panic. Although this may be caused by a sudden illness or attack, most likely these are the consequence of how many hours you spend with your computer. Hours of staring at the computer screen, continual tapping of the fingers on the keyboard and spending too much time sitting upright and working on the computer can contribute to chronic and acute pain in the neck, arm, back or wrist. There are some musculoskeletal diseases such as damaged eyesight, arthritis, bad postures etc, which are common in elderly people, but prolonged usage of the computer, for example also due to poor designing of components can speed up such processes in young people.
'As I see it, every day you do one of two things: build health or produce disease in yourself. '
— Adelle Davis (1904 - 1974)
It is very crucial to maintain well lit atmospheres in working environments to avoid the eyes suffering from too much strain. On the other hand, many muscular movements cause all kinds of problems such as tendon and nerve disorders. Usually, relentlessly doing the same task, in the same awkward position every day, leads to sheer exhaustion. In the long run, direct pressure on the nerves, especially areas like wrists, fingers and stressors such as deadlines, poor working style and poor management, or simple, abrupt exertions such as pulling too hard to reach a drawer or for example, lifting a heavy file, or even sudden snaps and jerks can cause severe stress to parts of the body.
If you think you might develop any musculoskeletal disorders, you may test yourself by looking for symptoms. The symptoms may include pain, muscle fatigue, soreness, swelling, spasms, or numbness. But, before worrying, keep in mind that early diagnosis or being a little careful can drive these problems away.
Photo: Prabir Das
Muscle disorders
Myalgia: means “muscle pain” and is often caused by overuse, over-stretching of a muscle, or by stress. Cervical Myalgia, neck tension syndrome and cervical strain are common examples related to computer work. These can occur if the work involves chronic tension, awkward postures or repeated bending of the neck.
Tendon Disorders
Tendonitis is an inflammation of the tendons or sheaths surrounding the tendons, and causes movement to be painful. Tendonitis can occur from using the computer mouse with the wrists bent, or in the shoulders from frequent reaching.
Computer Vision Syndrome
Symptoms vary and may include dry eyes, or red, itchy, watery eyes; fatigue and heaviness of the eyelids and difficulty focusing the eyes. CVS does not cause eye damage, but can cause headaches, neck aches, and muscle spasms. Computers can be hard to read because the small dots that produce screen images are blurry around the edge, and are constantly being re-written. This forces the eye to continually refocus to keep images sharp.
Sitting Posture
* Use the chair for support, not the desk - sit well back into your chair; adjust the height of the chair back to fit into the small of your back, low enough to support your pelvis in a forward tilt.
* Let the chair take the strain - use the tilt adjustment to recline the back support sufficiently to allow your back and neck muscles to relax, whilst maintaining an upright posture.
* Sit tall - with your head balance squarely on your shoulders, keep your shoulders relaxed and elbows tucked close by your sides.
* Keying Posture
* Raise the height of your chair so your elbows are above the desk level.
* Use a footrest if your heels are now not touching the floor.
* Sit close to the desk, keep your elbows tucked in at your sides when typing or using the mouse. Ensure your upper arms are free to hang vertically down from your shoulders.
* If the arms on your chair prevent this, use a chair without arms or see if the arms can be safely removed.
* Lift your wrists to type, keeping your hands in alignment with your arms. Only rest your wrists on the edge of the desk when not typing or better still, relax your arms by your sides or do stretching exercises.
* Radiations from the laptop can cause skin problems too, so try not to put it on top of your skin and use them.
Computer Screen
Position the screen straight in front of you. Twisting the neck to one side, and then viewing the screen can be hazardous. Therefore, position your screen so you can view it with relaxed eyes, to avoid visual fatigue and agonies caused due to neck pains.
A comfortable viewing distance is generally 50-60cm (20-24"), but this is determined by your vision and whether spectacles are worn. Single focus lenses are preferable for screen use. Varifocals are not recommended as they can cause neck problems. If you do wear varifocals, make sure your screen is positioned so that you do not need to extend your neck to get the screen in focus.
Workstation environment
If your desk is near a window, make sure you avoid too intense glares from burning sunlight, by, for example, avoid direct reflection of sunlight from your screen into your eyes, use of curtains and so on.
So it is advisable that one should maintain good working habits in workplaces, and try to change their courses of work every hour to change their working positions, and also seeking for breaks at interludes. Because it is said that, 'every patient carries his or her own doctor inside.'
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