Images 5 Most Common Health Problems for PC Users

Causes, symptoms, remedies and methods to prevent 5 of the most common health problems faced by PC users.

By the time you are 40 years of age, your body has undergone and is undergoing fair amount of wear and tear. So, it makes you that much more vulnerable to any occupational hazard. If you have a career in computers, you might want to know what possible problems could crop up and what you could do to prevent their occurrence.

Here are five of the most common problems, which a PC user may face:

1) Eye Strain:

Cause: Staring at the monitor glare and the writing on it continuously for hours , day in day out, puts a strain on the eyes. The eye lens and the eye muscles stay locked in the same position for a long time and thereby, get strained. They subsequently weaken and are unable to perform the contraction and relaxation to the required extent, which is needed to adjust the eye lens in order to view an object at a close distance or faraway. Vision thus, gets impaired.

Symptoms: Headache, pain in the eyes, watering of the eyes.

Remedy: Glasses.

Prevention:

•Keep monitor at a distance of two feet

•Take frequent breaks and focus at an object far away. This will release the eye lens and muscles from their locked positions, and prevent strain.

•Keep cotton soaked in raw (unboiled) milk over the eyes before going to bed at night. Squeeze them a bit to prevent dripping. Let them be overnight. Do this atleast once a week

•Rub your palms till they feel warm and place them over the eyes till the warmth is felt over the eyes. Rotate eyes gradually clockwise a couple of times and then similarly anticlockwise. Repeat 2 to 3 times a day. This will exercise the eye muscles and strengthen them.

•Take Vitamins A and C regularly through natural sources like fruits and vegetables, meat and fish.

•Use protective tinted eye glasses to protect your eyes from the monitor glare

•Force yourself to relax your eyes using Eyes Relax.

2) Cervical Spondylosis and Lumbar Spondylosis:

Cause: Although you might be aware that proper posture is important, you tend to forget this when you are sitting in front of the computer for hours, everyday. You do not hold your neck in that neutral position and you do not sit upright, as a result of which, you tend to shift into a more comfortable position of slouching or leaning back. The muscles of the neck and back then are held in this unwanted position, over long periods, everyday. They get strained and subsequently weaken over time. As a result, they are not able to perform their function of holding the vertebrae (bones of the vertebral column) upright as they should. A particular vertebra slips and the space between the two adjacent vertebrae is reduced. There is pressure on the inter-vertebral disc which is present between two vertebrae. It starts getting eroded over time and the nerves coming out through the inter-vertebral space get pressed by the vertebra which has slipped. Symptoms appear and this can be crippling if not managed on time.

Symptoms: Cervical Spondylosis -  Pain in neck and shoulder/s, Headache, Tingling and numbness in one or both hands, Stiffness of neck and shoulder muscles. Lumbar Spondylosis -  Low Back pain, Tingling and Numbness in one or both the Lower Limbs, inability to bend and stand or sit for a long time due to pain. In advanced stages, there is sharp shooting pin in the lower limb/s.

Remedy: Your Physician may advise you rest till the pain disappears. This could be followed by a lifelong regimen of neck or back strengthening. Proper posture will become mandatory and he may advise you to wear the lumbo sacral belt while sitting at your work station to prevent you from slipping into that improper posture. In advanced cases, traction becomes necessary and a cervical collar or a lumbo sacral belt (as the case maybe) has to be worn at all times.
In severe cases, surgical intervention becomes necessary.

Prevention: Keep monitor at eye level, Maintain a proper posture of the neck and the back, exercise daily, specially  to keep the back and neck muscles strong. Yoga exercises will be very helpful.

3) Carpal Tunnel Syndrome:

Cause: Due to constant handling of the mouse and due to the constant hammering on the keyboard, the carpal ligament of the wrist gets inflamed and edematous. As a result, it presses on the median nerve passing below it through the carpal tunnel, which is formed by carpal bones on three sides and the carpal ligament on one side.

Symptoms: Pain, stiffness, soreness and a burning sensation in the forearm, palm and the finger, tingling, numbness and loss of strength in the affected hand. Pain may be referred to the shoulder.

Remedy: Best to leave it to your physician as there may be other underlying causes, (such as rheumatoid arthritis, obesity, pregnancy, menopause, and endocrinal disorders like Acromegaly and  hypothyroidism ), which may require treatment.

Prevention: The posture should be such that the forearms and wrists should be parallel to the thighs. Hold the mouse lightly and learn to operate it with both hands to prevent pressure on one hand. make a habit of using the other hand too for handling the mouse, take frequent breaks – even if they are for 2 minutes only! Workrave may definitely help you! Go here for images & some more details on Carpal Tunnel Syndrome !

4) Mental stress:

Cause: This happens due to long hours and overtime in front of the computer to achieve those targets and incentives. As a result of this work pressure, there is tremendous tension at work every day, coupled with a sense of loneliness. In people with low stress threshold, this tension soon develops into Stress and Stress overtime, develops into depression.

Remedy and Prevention: Try  to socialize at work during breaks and talk to friends and family. Try to keep your social life as it was before. If required, take professional help if you feel the stress is eating into you.

5) Indigestion and weight gain:

Cause: This is the result of physical inactivity due to long hours at work. In ladies, at this age, there is an additional cause of menopause.

Prevention: A low fat, high fiber nutritious diet must be adhered to. 30 minutes of exercise daily to keep your bowels active and to burn your calories.

By the time you reach 50′s, two-thirds will have vision, hearing, Scoliosis or dexterity impairments that will impact our computer use. This Guide from Microsoft may interest the Over 50 crowd!

Not yet 40 ? Well this concerns you too! Inculcate good posture and healthy computing habits from today itself as these will go a long way in future. After all, you too will be turning 40 some day, you know! 

Do check out this general guide from Microsoft on healthy computing too! This Infographic shows how excessive Computer usage can harm your health.