Musings of a Cardiologist

Well here is an Interesting article that i read some time back and today i would like to share it with you all. Its about certain aspects of work life which go unheeded over a long period of time but could possibly hinder our development.First, Some stats:

1. Musculoskeletal pain is the most cited reason for missed work and the leading cause of disability in Americans under 45 years old.
2. A recent study by the National Center for Health Statistics states that over 25 million Americans experience frequent back pain at any given moment.
3. The Institute of Medicine estimates the cost of lost productivity due to pain to be between $297 billion and $335 billion in 2010 dollars.

Now that is some surprising facts i bet u didn’t know.So, How do we tackle this menace ? The answer to this lies in making your workplace more ergonomically sound.Here I enlist some steps to do that:

1. Stand-up, walk, or stretch for a few minutes every hour
2. Avoid repeating the same motion over and over again e.g. answer email for an hour then make phone calls for an hour. Mix up your meetings throughout the day.
3. Make sure you your chair and posture are correctly aligned
   1. Your seat and pelvis should be parallel to the ground with your feet resting comfortably on the floor
   2. You should have lumbar support for your spine
4. You should relax your shoulders with your head positioned comfortably above your neck, not leaning forward to see the screen better
5. Your screen should only be an arms-length from your body
6. Your keyboard should be even with or lower than your elbows, if it’s not you need a keyboard tray.
7. Your monitor should be eye level. Looking up or down causes neck pain.

These steps will ensure that the next time you get body aches you know what it is due and what you can do to stop it.