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Healthy Computing Tips

Writing these women’s health articles I noticed I spend a fair few hours on the computer. If you’re reading this at work and have been doing the same, have you thought about your health?

Health Dangers of Computing

When I talk about dangers at the computer I am not talking about big things like the hard drive exploding and ripping off your leg, I am talking about subtle changes that can happen in your body that will sneak up on you until one day it is too late. Sounds almost as bad doesn’t it? Well, with these tips you can hopefully avoid them.

I will organize this post by listing a computing health danger and then talk about the remedy.

1 - Bad Back

Everyone gets a bad back at some point in their life. If you have a history of bad backs then the old computer probably isn’t helping. Back injuries often happen due to bad posture and that bad posture can become a habit by sitting at the computer.

Remedy - To fix this you need to keep your feet flat on the floor, have your chair the right distance away from the desk and keep your shoulders square. A physiotherapist friend of mine discussed with me at length the reasons why you shouldn’t force your shoulders back to make your spine straight. Instead, imagine a string is pulling your shoulders out sideways and a little bit to the back as if the joints are opening up. This fosters good blood flow.

Secondly, take breaks every 20 mins to stretch out your back and give it a good twist around.

2 - Back Neck

The old sore neck comes about from sitting with hunched shoulders so that, in order for your head to stay upright, you have to curve your neck.

Neck problems have recently been linked to a host of other more serious health issues by a new scientific study. Things like brain problems and hayfever can be caused by a out of place neck as the nerves and vessels flowing down the spine and into the brain can become blocked. This is nasty.

Remedy - Sit up straight as in number one and your neck should take care of itself. In kung fu we were taught that the correct position for the head if we wanted the internal energies to flow properly was to imagine a string tied to our crown gently pulling out heads up.

3 - Damaged eyesight

Sitting at the computer for hours WILL damage your eyesight. It is not a question of if, but when. This can mean�glasses, headaches and a big optical bill.

Remedy - Take breaks from the screen as often as possible. Close your eyes when you can to re lubricate and relax them. Move your eyes from side to side and up and down.

Also, make sure your don’t need glasses already as this could be making the problem get worse much faster.

4 - Headaches

I know a lot of women who get headaches from sitting at the computer. It can be caused by many factors and is often a mix of many things going wrong at once.

Remedy - If you have a headache while on the computer check these things:

• How is your posture?
• How are your eyes?
• When was the last time you had some water?
• When was the last time you ate?
• When was the last time you had a bowel movement?

It is quite often the case too that the reason we are on the computer is work. This can mean stress, and stress can mean headaches. Take a look at all of these things before reaching for the heavy painkillers.

5 - RSI

Probably the most common computing injury is RSI or repetitive strain injury where a joint becomes swollen and inflamed. This can be a long term injury and quite difficult to fix.

Remedy - Take breaks as often as you can and stretch out your hands, forearms and arms. Give them a god shake and squeeze them and relax them.

Does anyone know of any other computing health problems?

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