You come home after a long day of work at the office. Your head is throbbing, your hands are cramped; you wince every time you bend over and you can’t remember the last time you blinked.
This litany of aches and pains has become increasingly familiar as employees spend more time working at the office and less time thinking about the potential health risks of sitting at a desk for hours on end.
Physical complications that result from work can be serious — so serious that the science known as ergonomics was developed specifically to address work-related health issues.
Ergonomics can be defined as “the science of making sure you have good body mechanics in relation to your work environment,” according to Dr. Charmaine Tu, a chiropractic physician at Los Altos Family Chiropractic (and until last month, at Peak Performance Chiropractic in Menlo Park).
Look no farther than the word’s origin from the Greek “ergon,” which means work, and “nomos,” which means natural laws — the science of ergonomics basically revolves around ensuring that your body works in way that feels natural, rather than strained.
Although ergonomics applies to a range of fields, they are especially relevant in the realm of the office, where individuals contort their bodies in all sorts of unnatural positions to achieve multi-tasking heights.
Headaches, lower back problems, neck strain and eye strain are the top four complications that Dr. Charmaine (as she is known) sees in patients who spend long days at the office.
Although a good number of patients also display symptoms of carpal tunnel disorder in their hands, many are misdiagnosed, she says, and are actually suffering from “tennis elbow” — a condition where muscles and tendons at the elbow area become torn or damaged from repetitive use.
If left untreated or ignored, these work-related afflictions have a tendency of resurfacing in a vicious cycle of pain.
“Most ergonomic problems are chronic,” Dr. Charmaine notes.
When the problems become constant, they even have their own name: repetitive stress or strain injuries (RSI’s). Categorized as an occupational overuse syndrome, RSI’s are fairly common in people who spend long days at the computer. After a while, incorrect posture, reoccurring motions and tense body positions begin to take their toll.
Prevent and fix
Fortunately, most office-related health complications are preventable. However, making a workplace ergonomically sound involves more than just purchasing better chairs and computer accessories from the wealth of ergonomic products now on the market. With some well-spent time and effort, individuals can take control of their own health at the office.“It’s a matter of re-educating your body,” Dr. Charmaine explains. “[Even though it seems simple], people need to be taught this.”
As a first measure, she recommends that those who work at a computer either set up a timer that will ring once an hour or put a post-it note on their screen to remind them to get up and stretch once an hour. Short stretch breaks can not only reduce tension but also improve flexibility in the long run.
Dr. Charmaine also advises that people pay attention to posture, sitting straight against their chair backs. Slouching can increase the load on your spine up to three or four times, she notes.
To lower the risk of carpal tunnel and tennis elbow, “elbows and wrists must move freely” she says. Resist the urge to rest wrists in front of the keyboard while typing.
“Think of playing a piano,” she says, referring to the fact that pianists can’t rest their hands on the instrument as they depress the keys. The curved fingers of piano players are also ideal when typing.
If you’re already coming home with pain in your limbs, Dr. Charmaine recommends icing as a first resort. However, icing and the normal stretching routines will not suffice if problems persist.
“You can’t exercise what’s broken,” she says.
At that point, she recommends seeing a physician or a chiropractor, and then speaking to a human resources representative.
“Get your desk ergonomically evaluated,” she recommends.
Evaluating your workspace
Richard Rivas, a “loss control” contractor who represents workers’ compensation departments, has been conducting ergonomic evaluations for years, as employers become increasingly more aware of workers’ safety issues. From working with truck drivers to doctors, plumbers to chefs, Mr. Rivas has seen it all.In visiting an office for an evaluation, his goal is not to mandate change but rather to offer employees suggestions for improving their work conditions he says.
When he surveys someone’s workspace, Mr. Rivas first notices the desk. Although he laughs when he hears employees claim that they know exactly where everything is located in their mountainous stacks of papers, a messy desk is a serious matter. If your space is strewn with miscellanea and your file drawers are constantly swinging into your space, you have “an accident waiting to happen,” he cautions.
All of this clutter can be a hazard, forcing unnecessary stretching in order to reach something or causing someone to trip, for example. While he attributes the tendency for clutter partly to employers for not giving workers enough desk space, Mr. Rivas recommends that individuals make it a priority to clean up their desks. In an optimal situation, everything important (phones, notebooks, etc) should be within reach to prevent straining motions.
Is a nearby window casting a reflection on your screen? Are you stretching to reach your mouse? Do you have to twist your neck to answer your phone? Is your computer screen not at eye-level?
These are some of the other common mistakes Mr. Rivas points out to office workers, most of which can be amended by simply moving things around.
Other office-related aches can also be prevented by altering the way you move at work. Avoid dry eyes, blurred vision and the headaches that result from eyestrain by consciously peeling your eyes away from the screen every so often and blinking, Mr. Rivas suggests.
He stresses the dangers of cradling the phone under your neck — a moment of convenience that can easily translate into chronic neck pain.
Mr. Rivas offers a simple preventive mantra for those wondering if their office habits are hazardous.
“If it hurts, stop.”
While he recommends certain products like swiveling chairs with quality back support or a footrest, Mr. Rivas understands that a lot of companies don’t provide such improvements.
“You have to deal with what you have,” he says.
He warns employees that some products, such as the keyboard pads designed to support wrists, come with their own problems. The pads often inadvertently encourage people to rest their wrists as they type.
Mr. Rivas echoes Dr. Charmaine’s advice to stretch every so often, adding that it’s wise to stretch hands and fingers before beginning a day of typing.
Although people are prone to pounding on the keys in a flurry of productivity, the heavy pressing motion also causes unnecessary strain on fingers. A lighter touch is preferable, he says.
With computers becoming an increasingly vital component of the workforce and multitasking now the norm, office ergonomics are more important than ever, Mr. Rivas notes.
“This method of communicating is going to predominate,” he says. “People will have to learn to change their attitudes” if they want to avoid health problems.
It seems that more companies are taking heed, bringing in professionals like Mr. Rivas, or even consulting yoga centers that offer programs geared toward the workplace.
Armed with the proper knowledge and resources, you can play a huge part in reducing your risk of office injuries. Although you might feel ridiculous stretching around your co-workers or taking breaks to blink, your body will thank you in the long run.
Helpful resources
The following Web sites have additional information about the ergonomic workplace and diagrams for stretching exercises to help protect against strain and injury.
• mayoclinic.com/health/stretching/WL00030
• osha.gov/SLTC/etools/computerworkstations/positions.html
• dohs.ors.od.nih.gov/ergonomics_home.htm
• healthycomputing.com/health/stretches/
• nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ergonomics.html
Computer workstation evaluation checklist osha.gov/SLTC/etools/computerworkstations/checklist.html
