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Monday, August 22, 2005

Work and Health

I am writing on a less than obvious topic, that of the relationship between work and health. To start with, I'm sure nobody reads this text on the TV, so I assume you're in front of a computer. Good, me too. And a lots of other people are, too.
So, given that there's a fair enough chance for one reading this blog to relate to my story, here goes a personal story. I'll try to make it short. I spend too much time in front of the computer, often in (way) sub-optimal positions - from an ergonomics point of view - either working or playing games.
Surely some of us have a keyboard at work or at home that is "anti-RSI". I do. I have even wondered what RSI is and I found it means repetitive strain injury. That, acoording to Wikipedia, is an occupational overuse syndrome affecting muscles, tendons and nerves in the arms and upper back. It occurs when muscles in these areas are kept tense for very long periods of time, due to poor posture and/or repetitive motions. Guess what, it suits me just fine. So when my wrist started to hurt, I had a pretty accurate suspicion as to what it is.
What next?
I cannot substitute professional medical advice and so on, but I'll tell you what I did, and until you seek that help, perhaps you can resort to this.
First: ergonomics. I won't copy paste content here, but you can do a quick search and find out how you should (/should not) sit, keep your arms while working and so on.
Second: medication. If it hurts, don't use pain relievers, use something anti-inflamatory (which really helps the condition).
Third: software. What? Yes, software. The best kind: Free, GNU public license kind of software. Where? http://www.workrave.org It has excellent features, putting it on top of some commercial programs designed for the same purpose.
End of story.
Now, I wish you all the best. I want you to work hard, have no problems and increase GDP. Just in case, though...

Posted by TM : 8/22/2005 04:20:00 pm