Times of India
07 April 2010
By Aditi Guha

Long hours at work, stressed days & sleepless nights… with urbanisation comes in a whole lot of problems that the exec faces. A sneak peek into some of the ways out…
You are a leader. But you are not Jack Welch. You are yet to spell out the 25 magic mantras that could help you and your team build a winning enterprise!

But you could still lead from the front. At work, you could spearhead the latest mantra, a wellness drive, and sit back to enjoy the reaps. After all, the professional world believes in saying Yes Boss!

You could begin this way. Do not slouch in front of the desktop or lie in bed working on the laptop. All may not be hunky dory as you develop the risk of posture–related problems. You end up with back pain. You shoo it off as a sleeping defect for you are too busy to take meet the physician. Now, that could spell danger for a busy corporate like you.

Prolonged work at the computer could lead to chronic nerve problems damaging your back, neck, shoulders or wrists. And you wouldn’t be alone in this.

Too much computer, too many problems:
The result could be this:

• Back and neck muscle spasm and pain
• Back and neck soft tissue inflammation
• Back, neck and shoulder pain on movement and involvement of other muscles as a reaction
• Referred pain to buttocks and thighs or up the spine

If you think this is all, hold on! There’s more coming… If you think a hot and cold bath may ease your pain after a day’s work, you could be just a little too naïve. You could also be in danger of developing pain and numbness in the fingers, wrists or arms. So much so, till you get affected by something as severe as the carpal tunnel syndrome.

But where lies the defect? “It is wrong posture that is to blame,” says neuro surgeon Dr Gautam Gangopadhyay.

So, key it up well

• Fingers should be kept as straight as possible
• Elbows should be resting at 90–100°
• Keys, on the left of the keyboard, should be used with the left hand and fingers
• Do not force your right hand to use keys on the left. When this is done, it results in erosion of muscle tendons and exerts pressure on the median nerves.

Press it the wrong way and end up with:

• Wrist pain that moves up to the elbow
• Swelling of wrists, numbness and lack of power at the wrists
• Stiffness of the arms and wrists, difficulty in moving arms
• Surgery, the only way out following prolonged difficulty

The way out:

• Use an ergonomic office chair with lumbar support
• Buy an ergonomic keyboard and mouse
• Have a break every hour and do stretching exercises
• Visit a chiropractic clinic where you are treated for spinal column dysfunction
• Keep massage therapies in your daily routine

“Adjust the height of the chair to 15–16 inches such that it is parallel to the floor. The back should be firmly supported and angled at 120°,” says orthopaedic surgeon Dr Santosh Dutta.