Musculoskeletal Conditions Due to Prolonged Computer Use

The use of computers are rapidly gaining influence in every sphere of activity. Computers arewidely used in purposes of documentation, record keeping,  accounting, banking, software

development, web creation, networking, browsing, gaming, etc. The influence of computer is

great due to the sheer number of people who are using computer on a daily basis. Computers are

becoming part of everyday life because of one's profession, communication, leisure, or personal

usage. Widespread use of computer comes at a price as it creates a range of health issues for those computer addicted.

Photo credit: en.wikipedia.org

Sitting prolonged periods and working on computer cause a series of health conditions. These condition occur because of bad posture, physical inactivity, eye strain, movement of hand and fingers, radiation, etc. The common health conditions seen in computer users are back ache, neck ache, headache, shoulder ache, and hand or wrist ache which occurs because of maintaining a bad computer posture for a prolonged period of time.

Photo credit: www.ergonomics-info.com

Back ache: 

This is the most common condition that occurs due to maintaining a wrong posture

when sitting and sitting for a long period of time without much movement of the back. The wrong posture may be due to the position of the chair and also the position of the computer peripherals on the desk. When the monitor, keyboard, or mouse is placed further forward, it causes the user to over-reach the peripheral devices and hunch forwards. The stooping forward of the body causing the back to curve in that direction. The hunched posture for a longer period of time causes the back and spinal muscles to do the extra work of holding the body upright, that causes fatigue, pain, and degeneration. The normal curvature of the lumbar spine is altered in a hunched position.

Management: 

Sit in an upright and neutral position while working with the computer. This maintains the normal curvature of the spine and prevent excessive torsion forces. Keep the legs rested on the floor or foot rest. Place the computer peripheral devices at an appropriate reachable distance on the desktop. Use a good ergonomically designed height adjustable computer chair to maintain a good posture and reduce the stress on the spine. A chair with a good lumbar support is advisable for those working for prolonged periods on a computer. Adjust the backrest of the chair to support the curve of lower lumbar portion of the spine. It is also good to have a chair with a good arm rest so that one can use it to rest the arms and thus partially take off the burden on the spine. Take regular breaks from work and do stretching exercises.

Ergonomically designed chair

Photo credit: http://www.igcseict.info

Neck ache:

This is another common condition that is caused by the poor posture of the head and maintaining that position for a prolonged period of time. Headache also accompany sometimes. The head is tilted forwards and towards the direction of the computer peripherals and monitor forming a stooped posture. The stooping posture displaces the center of gravity of the head when resting on the spine. Excessive force is required for the muscles of the head to keep the head in upright position along the center of gravity. The extra effort produced by the muscles of the neck for a prolonged period of time causes fatigue of the muscles and neck ache. A static off neutral head position for a long period of time causes altered blood supply to the brain and produces headache.

Management: 

You should sit straight and position the computer screen to maintain in a comfortable viewing distance. Keep your neck at a neutral and center-of-gravity position. Do neck stretching exercises at intervals. Turn your head slowly upwards, downwards, and on both sides to prevent fatigue.

Shoulder ache and arm pain:

This is caused by the improper position of the hand and wrist when using computer peripheral devices. Proper support of the wrist and the hand is needed when working with the keyboard or mouse. Adequate desktop support is needed when using a computer mouse. Wrist rest is needed while typing with a keyboard. When a wrong posture of the hand is sustained for a longer duration, it causes fatigue of the muscles in the shoulders and hand.

Management: 

Keep a suitable height for the keyboard and monitor and maintain a correct height for the person, and not bend over to reach the keyboard, mouse, or view the monitor. The forearms should be parallel or sloping towards the desktop to provide good support for the arms and wrist. Provide adequate space on the desk for the computer peripherals such as the keyboard and mouse so that there is ample space for resting the arms and wrist. Altering the work done by the hands also help to make sure that the arm muscles do not get fatigued.

A Rail Travel Across The State of Kerala

This is a journey that I had done recently across the the state of Kerala, Southern India. I live in the district of Trivandrum also called as Thiruvananthapuram, which is the southern most district of Kerala State where I was born. I had a wonderful opportunity to travel across the State of Kerala to a place on the other side of the state or northern most part of the state, which is the district of Kasaragod. So it is a cross Kerala travel or it can be called as the trans-Kerala travel.

Photo credit: maps.newkerala.com

The travel was by train and we boarded the Netravati Express that starts from the Trivandrum Central Station. We departed from Trivandrum at morning around 9:00 a.m. and we arrived at Kasaragod around 11:00 p.m. about a full-day journey. The journey was very pleasant and enjoyable, a wonderful experience to get a birds eye view of many places in Kerala.

Kerala State is topographically shaped like a shoestring just like the country of Chile on the western South America. Just like Chile situated on the west of the continental South America, Kerala is situated on the western edges of the peninsular Indian land mass and similarly on the western slopes of the Western Ghats, just like the Andes ranges of the Chile. Likewise, it is also bordered along its western side by an ocean, the Indian ocean similar to the Pacific ocean of Chile. Like Chile being often called as the shoestring country, being a state Kerala can also be called as a shoestring state because of its shape.

The State of Kerala is a wonderful hot place on the south western region of India along the Indian Ocean coast. Kerala is also called as Keralam in native tongue, the land of the coconuts. It is bordered by the states of Karnataka on the north and northeast and Tamilnadu on the east and southeast. It is a small plain carved along the western edges of the the Western ranges of India, the Western Ghats. To the west is the Western Ghats that runs the entire length of the state with a small pass in Palghat district.

The Western Ghats rise on average about 1500 meters above sea level in height, and its highest peak being Anamudi around 2695 meters high. The other important peaks are Nilgiri Hills, Palni Hills etc. Towards the west lies the Indian Ocean, which straddles across the entire length of the state. The entire coastline is around 590 km in length and any place in Kerala is not more than 125 km from the coastline. Between the western ranges and the eastern shorelines of the Indian Ocean lies the narrow stretch of hills and plains of Kerala.

The Western Ghats of Kerala is the lifeline for the State, which enriches a number of rivers that flows from the western slopes of the Western Ghats mountains. It is one of the old fold mountains which has considerably worn down due to the action of weather as well as by man. Western Ghats acts as a barrier for the moisture in air and the clouds to precipitate its water content as rain and mist along the slopes of the Ghats. The higher the height of the ranges, the more precipitation it receives from the clouds as well as the moisture laden winds from the Indian ocean and more it sustains water in the dry summer months. Unfortunately a lot of human activity is denuding and destroying the ranges along the entire length, which affects the water flowing capacity along both sides of the ranges.

The weather of Kerala is hot and humid equatorial tropic climate, however it is somewhat cool during the months from December to February. It is evergreen with lush green vegetation for most part of the year, with a small dry season during summer months. There are rains on the months of January till June to August from Southwest monsoon and September to December from Northeast monsoon. The rains feed a number of rivers, canals, lakes, and estuaries.

Most of the land is tropical wet evergreen forests with thick green vegetation cover with a diverse of flora and fauna. The typical tree is the coconut tree which is seen in almost all places in Kerala. The important animal species is the Indian elephant, which is an important animal of Kerala. The symbolic bird of Kerala is the Great hornbill. The symbolic flower of Kerala is the Golden Shower tree flower.