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Do You Have a PC Posture?
prostoalex writes "PC Magazine takes a look at 'PC posture' and the problems associated with the workstyles of those who spend hours in front of the PC. They talk about proper sitting styles, the erroneous name of 'wrist rest,' monitor height and the need for periodic exercises to help alleviate potential repetitive stress injuries."
My PC is powered by an exercise bike.
Now, if only I could stop forcing my kids to pedal whilst I sit back I might actually lose some weight.
liqbase
he must be working overtime
as the previous article by "hdtv" domain (PLASMA-HDTV-PRICES.COM) is registered to Alex Moskalyuk aka prostoalex, along with the blog submitted on ZDnet is also Alex
so he registers a load of domains and then pretends to be different unrelated submitters in order to hawk his scam of the week, i guess ZDnet doesnt pay that well
Are your shoulders hunched? Yes
Your wrists arched back? Yes
How about your neck: Is it craned forward? Yes
Is your back aligned with your chair back? Yes. Is this bad?
Are your feet flat on the floor? Yes. This is bad too??!!
Blessed are the pessimists, for they have made backups. -- 0 1 My two bits
Comment removed based on user account deletion
And now, a PSA from David Lynch.
Also, about halfway through the article I saw the following:
"A new study suggests many workers would forego higher salaries in favor of an improved work-life balance and career advancement opportunities. Click here to read more.
And the entire sentence was a link to this site. Was that link an ad to another of their articles? How in the hell was that relevant to this article? There was some more link trickery throughout the page as well. Honestly, this story read more like something on Askmen.com than something from an actual news organization.
Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
I have a Mac posture. It's just like waaay cooler ;^)
spoonerize "magic trackpad"
The popular press is very good at promoting the line that computers are dangerous. The courts and "ergonomic consulting" firms seem to buy into the danger as well. But where's the evidence?
Here's a contrary hypothesis: carpal tunnel syndrome and chronic back pain are stress related. That's not to say they aren't real, it's to say that the primary contributory agent is stress. People in repetitive data entry employment may have stressful lifestyles. The stress may be partially caused by the job, or there may be some other non-causal association.
Now sitting differently -- or any other intervention -- may even cause a measurable improvement due to the Hawthorne effect. That's not proof that sitting one way or the other was the cause of the problem.
Exercise -- just getting up and walking, running, swimming, and so on -- probably has more effect than changing posture at the job. Whether that's physiological or psychological or, more likely, both, is unimportant; it works.
I encourage people to check out primary sources or research on these issues, not just statements from consultants who have something to gain from a particular point of view, or trade unions or employers or insurers who have somewhat different axes to grind.
[Says he slouched in bed with wrists heavily on laptop keyboard, who is about to go out for a jog, so as to prevent the chronic back pain that he has suffered from time to time in his life.]
FTFA:
Well, here's some news that might get you to sit straight up in your chair:
Shit this is gonna be intense... I knew it there's something in there I didn't know.
Along with the majority of the computer-facing population, you could be well on your way to developing a series of unsavory repetitive stress ailments such as carpal tunnel syndrome, postural syndrome, tendonitis and eye strain.
Wait, you promised me news, damn you. I WANT MY NEWS!!!
At my home desk computer I have on very old worn chair with where the back rest is pretty much unuseable.
It has been with me for the last 6 years, in which I have been sitting at the computer many hours every day in this chair.
I have often been thinking about replacing this chair and often people tell me to do so. So far I have not done this. Somehow I have an idea that this miserable chair helps me to avoid injuries.
One obvious things about this chair is that with me not sitting comfortable I often rise and move around for a little while before getting back at the computer, one thing that the article emphasises as being a good thing.
Another good thing is that this chair makes me change seatnig position all the time, without really thinking abuot it, the chair is not much diffrent than a stool I have a variety of ways of sitting at the chair that put the strain on diffrent places in my body.
I think I will stick with this worn chair until it totally falls apart after which I will go look for a similar old worn chair.
After all the countries where people sleep directly on the floor without soft mattresses like India back injuries were curiosly enough almost unknown until they started getting civilized sleeping in soft beds.
For me, the absolute most damaging thing I did was work at a company with crappy health insurance, and crappy doctors. (Blue Cross Blue Shield, later Aetna) -
When my lower-back problems first arose, it was nearly impossible to get a doctor to do anything other than "take a couple advil". Next step was "take a couple vicodin". Or unhelpful or obvious advice like "lose some weight" (duh).
My problems got progressively worse year by year. Until last year, when I was hurt so bad I could barely work. Each time I had a hurt, it was extreme pain that would last 8-10 weeks, or more. I'd get x-rays, and the doctor would say there's nothing wrong. Sometimes I'd get chiropractic - which also did nothing to help the long-term problem.
FINALLY, a new doctor talked the insurance company into springing for an MRI. Degenerated L4-L5 disk (at this point, it had already been obvious). They talked about cortisone shots, but freinds I knew who had similar issues weren't helped. I've heard a lot of good things about surgery, where the bulging part of the disk was trimmed. But no doctor would do that unless I was physically impaired to the point where I could not walk, or lost bowel or bladder function. (I shit you not).
So it seemed as if I was doomed to keep experiencing these re-occurring episodes 2 to 3 times a year, with only reactionary treatment available, nothing preventative, nothing that would be a long term cure. Unless I paid for it myself and saw an out-of-network doctor.
I say this now: When the revolution comes, HMO accountants will be the first ones up against the wall. I swear, I will torture those motherfuckers until they beg for mercy. And then I'll keep torturing them.
Now, I had been sent to "physical therapists" before - heat treatments, microwave treatments, ultrasound treatments, traction, massage, etc. ALL a complete fucking waste of time.
Then, I saw one that specialized in sports-medicine, who simply proscribed a series of daily stretching excercise for my gluteals and hamstrings - that, coupled with an ergonomic workstation that allowed me to work standing-up during part of the day, then sitting for part of the day. These two things did more than anything else to help me.
Sit-stand tray and monitor stand.
Hamstring and gluteal stretches.
That's all.
I still have a lot of pain and stiffness, particularly in the morning. And I still get sciatic pinching symptoms like patches of numbness on my leg, or burning sensations. But for the most part, I don't get these injury-episodes anymore where I can barely walk for 8-10 weeks. The stretching is the factor that helps the most. If I had a curious doctor, I suppose I'd go in for another MRI to see if there was any effect on my degenerated disk. But that's never going to happen. Not with my current insurance.
One side-effect, though; I usually stand for about the first four hours of the day, then I sit. But this has started to cause some soreness in my knees and ankles now, and, my mouse-wrist, because of the change-in-angle when I'm standing, so fixing the wrist problem was just a matter of changing my keyboard angle when I go from sit-to-stand, and vice-versa.
I'm hoping that the knee and ankle issues will be relieved, since I began a light weight-training program at the advice of the physical therapist.
These are my friends, See how they glisten. See this one shine, how he smiles in the light.
Ummm... I don't think that's a *POSTURE* problem, but perhaps a *VIEWING* issue...
antipaucity
Let me say first that I distinguish RSI from carpal tunnel in a basic way. I think RSI is a problem that is going to happen regardless of posture and that is just about the simple question of whether any signal we send to repetitively through our system is bad for us. I think people become open to RSI because of the R, the repetition, and we should be wary of tasks that ask people to become machines. "People are good at judgment. Machines are good at repetition." People should not be doing the tasks of machines.
But carpal tunnel is very different. I have had friends fall victim to this, and I've seen them point to all manner of things to deny what seems totally obvious to me, and yet what I see no press play about: A lot of people who spend their time at a desk are not football players. They have not trained themeselves for years to be strong. That's just an observation, not a criticism. The weakest among us often prefer desk jobs. And some of them end up victim to the fact that desk jobs have their physical stresses.
At the risk of angering my insurance company, I should say that for 30 years I've sat with posture that is not perfect. I've rested my hands on my desk. I've worked long hours. And my typing is fine. Yet others I've known haven't survived 2 years of light typing. Why the difference? I can't believe it's typing.
Looking around at those who do and those who don't, I see weak-wristed people who have problems and strong-wristed people who don't. What did I do as a kid? I swam (with my arms, never kicking enough) competitively for a number of years. I bowled, using at least one wrist heavily. And I played baseball--again sport that uses the wrist. I played volleyball (lots of wrist there) and ping-pong (same). I did tetherball (very strong wrist use). And I loved the horizontal bar (pullups, and pulling my whole body over the bar). It doesn't surprise me, then, that as an adult, my wrists had nice broad cord strength going through whatever the bone structure was there. My arms were always very strong, and it's served me well programming. Probably plenty for a robust typing life.
If you're a kid, or you know one, or have one, who wants to be into computers, I recommend sports. And particular those sports--the ones about wrists. I just don't see the problem. Then again, typing itself from an early age may well build a generation of kids whose bones grow up knowing they'll need this strength. So it may just be those who are late to learn typing that end up with the problem. Still, a bit of swimming and those other things won't have hurt you any...
Maybe what I'm advocating is less PC style posture, and more Mac-style posture, since the Mac commercials seem to be more about getting out and doing physical things with your computer on your belt...
Kent M Pitman
Philosopher, Technologist, Writer