Keep your Back Healthy While you Work

[mouser]

I've recently experienced some spots of back pain, perhaps due to moving, and i have become more aware of these issues.  I also finally got a proper desk chair for the first time in my life, which has made a real differenct (no not one of those insane $1000 aerons, but a normal chair from office depot).

ps. Make sure you also check out this thread on the DonationCoder forum discussing office chairs.

Back pain and neck pain information for patients
In-depth, peer reviewed back pain information written by physicians specifically for patients with back pain and neck pain

http://www.spine-health.com/index.html

from http://webworkerdaily.com/

[lanux128]

good post, mouser.. as a regular sufferer of back pain, this will come in handy.. also, just to share another source: http://www.merck.com/mmhe/au/sec06/ch094/ch094a.html

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[mouser]

This tip on the website really caught my eye (no pun intended) because i hadn't really noticed it but my monitors were way below my eye level:

Computer screen at eye level. The top of the computer screen should be placed so that it is at eye level. If the screen is too low it will be necessary to bend forward to look at it. Since this cannot be done with a laptop (because the screen and keyboard are connected), the laptop should be boosted up (e.g. placed on a few books) so that the laptop screen is at eye level, with an external keyboard plugged in and placed within easy reach. Extra keyboards are inexpensive and can be put at the proper height so that the elbows are bent to 90 degrees while working. Conversely, some may prefer to use their laptop keyboard, and if this is the case the same objective can be accomplished by leaving the laptop keyboard on the desk and plugging the laptop into a separate computer screen that is placed at eye level.

[Deozaan]

This tip on the website really caught my eye (no pun intended) because i hadn't really noticed it but my monitors were way below my eye level

Both of mine are way above eye level. This one I'm looking at right now has the bottom of the screen at about eye level, while my other one is about mid-screen at eye level.

[kfitting]

I posted about this in another thread about wrist pain and mice, but I can't find that thread!

The "Trigger Point Therapy Workbook" ($13 on Amazon when I bought it) has helped relieve my pain tremendously.  If you read the reviews and go to the author's site it sounds a bit sensationalist since it seems to heal anything and everything.  The idea, however, is fairly sound.  While I did have a couple of experiences where I was in extreme pain and massage relieved the pain in under ten minutes, I found the overall concept the most rewarding.  Instead of concentrating on relieving single pains here and there, I learned that pain is usually caused from somewhere else and even trigger point massage won't relieve some of it!  Pre Christmas 2006 I was having severe pain up and down my body.  I'm in my mid-20s so this is slightly worrisome.  I tried trigger point massage and it wasn't working (despite it helping earlier). 

One night I was flipping the trigger point workbook and noticed it said that uneven hips can cause all kinds of back and leg pain.  So I tried to see if my hips were uneven... they were.  I straightened them out (no massage).  My back started to relax within about 15 minutes.  Since then, I have concentrated on posture a lot more and my pain, all over my body, has reduced SIGNIFICANTLY.  I found that I was holding my hips uneven and twisting my upper body!  Trigger point massage helps, don't get me wrong, but the workbook's description of how pain in one place is tied to other areas of the body makes the $13 spent more than worth it.  It's cheap, it's effective.

One word of warning... don't expect results unless you're willing to work on it.  You have to learn your body.  I bought the book almost one year ago now and am just starting to understand things (though I don't read the book much anymore).

Sensentionalism aside, all I can say is try it, it did help me. 

Kevin

[patteo]

I wonder what is the long -term effect of lying on your tummy with a pillow tucked under your chest to prop you up and then using your laptop (placed in front of you). 

I think it kind of forces your spine into an awkward position.

Is there any study or scientific evidence on what it does to us ?

As a compromise, when I feel like working on the laptop on the bed, I will pull the laptop towards the end of the bed so that my body (at least most of it) is off the bed and I'm either sitting or kneeling (partly on the floor). I feel that in that way, I'm not compromising my spine (as much or if at all)

But of course, the best thing to do is not to use the laptop on the bed, also remembering that doing that can also block ventilation vents at the bottom of your laptop and bring on premature death (of the laptop that is).

[Ampa]

I noticed that I was slouching at the keyboard more than ever last month so decided it was time to take action...

Step 1: I sawed a small section out of my desk and dropped it down by 6 inches so that my keyboard and mouse were at a more comfortable height (wrists slightly below elbows).

Step 2: Bought a large inflatable gym ball from eBay (£12 inc p&p) which I now sit on instead of a chair.

The combination of the two is definitely helping. I no longer sit with rounded shoulders or end up with stiff shoulders. The down side (?) is that it is hard work to sit with good posture, if your body is not used to it, so I am having to take more breaks.

I have kept my slouchy office chair for evenings, TV and games though

Ampa

[tomos]

Both of mine [monitors] are way above eye level. This one I'm looking at right now has the bottom of the screen at about eye level, while my other one is about mid-screen at eye level.

mine is also above eye level cause of weird computer table design.
I find it's not good either - I sort of throw my head back -
but luckily can compensate by raising my chair..

[Lashiec]

Both of mine are way above eye level. This one I'm looking at right now has the bottom of the screen at about eye level, while my other one is about mid-screen at eye level.

Errr... are you sitting on the floor or something?

[2stepsback]

A few months ago, my eyes had taken the brunt of a massive web-host searching exercise. For a couple of days I could not wear my spectacles(!!) and was forced to take some days off.

So, now I see to it that I don't strain my eyes. How do I do that? By obeying Workrave 100%, no ifs, no buts.

Basically, every few minutes, you turn around, look around, stretch, yawn, shrug a couple of times, look over your shoulder this side and that.... and so on.
Also, get up every hour, have a glass of coke/water/juice/coffee
Scribble a few ideas on paper instead of in paint/gimp/ etc.**

I'm also thinking of buying a different kind of mouse (mouser needn't worry - he's the mousest of them all ) and a pen/tablet or whatever it's called. Those aren't only for webdesigners and they come relatively cheap nowadays. The high resolution ones are for the pro artists, IMO.

HTH

**You don't need to worry about the environment, just plant trees all over the place, even the wild ones that grow without your help - that'll help the envionment more. Paper notebooks are the lesser criminals. Furniture and wooden floors - that takes up more wood.

[skywalka]

http://www.sarahkey.com/extracts.cfm?pageID=8

This was featured on a local current affairs show the other night.  Some people who trialed it said it drastically improved their bad backs:  http://www.nubax.com.au/