computeritis help!

[jamie]

does anyone ever get bad sharp pain from sitting at the computer all day? i get it in my left shoulder blade that goes into my chest, right through me. ouch! does anyone else get this or anything similar? i sit up straight and close to the keyboard, but still after a while it hurts so much i have to leave and sit down in the chair and rest my back. it don't always help, so sometimes i have to take a day or two off.

[Tony T]

You have got to be out of your mind if you don't take frequent breaks to get up, stretch and move around while you are doing your computer thing. Repetitive motion injuries are serious and can sometimes be life altering.

 

The pain you are getting is certainly from sitting in the same position. Posture, muscle strain, spine alignment, and many other things are factors in just how severe the pain can become.

 

Carpal tunnel syndrome, which results in severe pain in the wrists and hands, is the most frequent computer injury. Surgery is often required to allieviate the pain and prevent worsening of the problem.

 

Also, you can seriously damage your eyes, even if you wear glasses, if you don't turn your eyes away from your computer screen every ten or fifteen minutes and focus a minute or two on other parts of the room. Ask your optician about this, don't take my word for it.

 

Additionally, studies conducted by medical researchers have shown that certain radiation emitted from computer screens and picked up by neural receptors in the back of the eye can trigger depressive episodes. Some people actually develop clinical depression as a result of long-term computer use and florescent lighting in their workplace. Ask your doctor or read up on this, don't just take my word.

 

You can call any workmen's compensation insurance carrier and ask about the number of claims put in relative to all of the above.

 

I hope you will consider spending a good part of your life away from the computer, exercising, socializing and having fun. It would be tragic to spend the last few minutes of your life with the only thing to look back at being the time you spent injuring yourself and otherwise limiting your life to the proximity of your computer screen.