We return home with a dark mood! We cannot think of assisting our kids with their homework after we return from our offices. But how can we become physically exhausted while sitting in an air-conditioned chamber on an expensive office chair? The sedentary nature of the modern day jobs have given birth to health related issues like stiff neck, aching wrists and back pain.
The human body was designed to move, but today's lifestyle does not support this natural mechanism leading to many health problems. Initially we choose to ignore these problems till things begin to attain a severe form. The worst cases might involve injuries to the spinal column or a compression of nerves which might lead to a discontinuance of work. So act now, to prevent problems in the future. Let's find out the body parts which stand at a risk of injury and let's have a look at what we can do to prevent it:
1. The Back
The back problems initiate on account of long hours of desk work. We should keep our spine straight and rested, but most of the times, we sit in a wrong posture leading to a whole host of back problems. Sitting in a wrong posture for a prolonged period gives rise to permanent pain and feelings of stiffness, numbness and weakness in the lower back. The more serious cases might involve spinal and disc-related injuries. You can help your back in the following ways:
- You should refrain from slouching while you are in a sitting position.
- You should use a seat which is well-padded and offers a comfortable back support. Adjust the backrest so that it is angled slightly backward and supports your lower back. The backrest, not your arms, should support your torso weight.
- You should rest your buttocks right at the back of your seat.
- You should take a break after every one hour. Just consider walking over to the water cooler or to your peer's desk. This would lead to the stretching of the muscles and relieving of strain from the spinal discs.
- While at your desk, you can perform simple exercises like stretching your arms and legs, rotating your ankles and flexing your feet.
2. The Shoulders
Poor posture and use of badly designed workstations can put strain on your shoulders. For example, if you are using a desk which is too high, then you need to raise your arms a bit higher while working on the keyboard or a document. This will strain your arms and shoulders. Here are the remedies:
- You should use a desk, the height of which should be according to your requirement. Set your work surface to elbow height so that you do not have to raise your arms and shoulders at some uncomfortable levels. If you use a fixed-height work surface, an adjustable keyboard tray can make it easy to find the most comfortable position.
- Rearrange your workspace such that the things you use frequently, such as your phone, stapler, mouse and keyboard, are within easy reach.
- You should take care to see that the armrest is of proper height so that it serves its original purpose - resting your arms! An arm rest can help reduce the load on your shoulders by supporting your forearms when using the computer. Make sure to support only your arm weight on the armrest, and not your full upper body weight.
- Adjust your chair height such that your feet are firmly supported by the floor (or a footrest) and your thighs are parallel to the ground. Your feet should support some of your body weight.
- You can do simple exercises to ease the discomfort in your shoulders. You can try pushing your shoulders forward and backward. Raise your shoulders upwards as if to touch your ears for 5 seconds and bring them down for another 5 seconds. Repeat it at least 10 times. While performing this exercise, your arms should be in a relaxed position at your side. Another exercise you can try include rotating the shoulders both clockwise and anti-clockwise five times.
3. The Neck
The soreness and pain in the neck are caused when you need to bend your neck too much to see the computer screen. Here are some fixes for this problem:
- You should maintain the computer screen at your eye level so that you do not have to look up or down the screen continuously. Tilt the top of the monitor away from you at a 10- to 20-degree angle to create an optimum viewing angle. To avoid twisting your neck while typing, center your monitor and keyboard in front of you.
- If you frequently refer to documents while working on the computer, consider using a document stand to position documents near eye level.
- Many people choose to talk in a phone while placing the phone between their shoulder and ear. This adds strain to the neck and hence this habit should be avoided. If you use the phone frequently, use a headset to reduce the strain on your neck.
- The last recourse is the exercise. Rotate your neck by turning your head softly to the left side and hold it for few seconds. Repeat the same process for the right side. This exercise would remove stiffness of the neck.
4. The Wrists
Repetitive use of the keyboard and the mouse in a wrong way can trigger problems in your wrists, leading to Carpal tunnel syndrome. Carpal tunnel syndrome causes pain, numbness and tingling sensation in your palm, wrist, thumb, or fingers. It occurs when an important nerve (called the median nerve) gets compressed at the wrist because of swelling. These are the things which you should keep in mind:
- You should refrain from straining the wrist upwards or bending it too much. Make sure that your keyboard is low enough that your wrists aren't bending upwards while you type.
- The wrists need support and so never leave them hanging! Try a wrist rest to support them.
- While working on a computer, your hand, wrist and forearm should extend in a straight line.
- You should use minimum pressure when typing on a keyboard. Change the keyboard if it requires heavy keystrokes. If you need to hold tools (including pencils and steering wheels) for long periods of time, grip them as loosely as possible.
- Take frequent breaks from activities that require wrist movement. When typing, stop often to rest the hands, if only for a moment.
- Rotate your wrists regularly, around every hour or so. Roll the wrists 5 times clockwise, the 5 times counterclockwise.
5. The Eyes
Constantly staring at your computer screen for long hours can put strain on your eyes. Excessive strain on eyes - Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS) - can lead to itchy or burning eyes, blurred or double vision and headaches. Let's see what you can do to give less stress to your eyes:
- It is ideal to place the monitor 20 to 30 inches or about an arm's length from your eyes. If you cannot read the contents, just increase the font size.
- Relax your eyes at regular intervals by looking away from your computer at least every 20 to 30 minutes and gaze at a distant object (at least 20 feet away) for at least 20 seconds.
- Eye exercises really do their part in relieving stress from the eyes. Blink your eyes often as it is the simplest form of eye exercise and it re-wets your eyes to prevent dryness and irritation. Try to massage and relax the muscles around your eyes once in a while.
Attitudes of the employers and the employees have changed and they are eager to help each other for mutual benefits. The employers are interested to do anything to promote the wellbeing of their key resources. But after all, it is your own responsibility to take care of your health. Your employers can only facilitate the process!
