21.3.09

Computer-induced arm pain


Repetitive strain is a creeping threat for any 21st century computer user.
Constant mouse clicking may seem innocent, but many computer users find that pain starts in their arm and eventually spreads to their wrist and shoulder.

“Anyone who hunches over a computer and makes a series of short, quick movements risks a painful inflammation of the lower arm and its musculature,” said Nils Graf Stenbock-Fermor, head of the German Orthopaedic Association.

Anyone spends long hours in front of the computer have begun to recognise the symptoms - the pain around their shoulder and up to the neck, this problem is known as RSI (repetitive strain injury).

Women can be more susceptible than men, but, in general, it depends on the person’s career.
The first signs usually range from prickling sensations to loss of feeling and numbness in the affected body parts. It involves various pains that develop between the wrist and shoulder.

Initial symptoms usually break out after long periods working at a PC, but will disappear overnight. In chronic forms of the disease, pain breaks out during everyday activities like ironing or shifting gears in a car.
To treat the problem you can use medication to minimize the symptoms, but in the longterm, they just mask the actual causes.

Therefore, it is important to take proactive steps to prevent the pain.
In therapy, stretching and strength-building exercises and exercise are used. Warmth can also be used to relax muscles while cold compacts can be used to relieve the pain.

The best thing to do is to change your work area, that could mean using keyboards, hand rests and computer mice that are designed like joysticks and force the user’s hand into a different position.

You should also have a chair that doesn’t force you to sit up too straight or hunch over and a monitor that can be adjusted according to viewing angle and the way a person sits.

So using proactive steps such as stretching , muscle relaxation techniques and strenth-building exercises could help alleviate repetitive strain injury symptoms brought about by working long hours at PC.