PREVENTING PAIN CAUSED BY LONG PERIODS OF COMPUTER USE

PREVENTING PAIN CAUSED BY LONG PERIODS OF COMPUTER USE: "PREVENTING PAIN CAUSED BY LONG PERIODS OF COMPUTER USE


If you use a computer for much of your day you MUST take
steps to prevent the crippling pain this can cause. The
first thing to consider is the correct (ergonomic) set-up
of your computer desk and chair.

Both the chair seat and its back should be adjustable.
The chair back should have good lumbar support and you
should be able to adjust it to fit neatly into your back
while you're sitting in the chair. The seat should have
gas lift to make adjusting its height easy and should
slope down at the front so that the back of your thighs
are not put under pressure. With your back against the
chair back you should be able to sit up STRAIGHT--not
slumped either backwards or forwards--and your feet
should rest firmly on the floor. If you feel the need for
a footstool, your chair height is definitely too high.
With your fingers on the keyboard, your forearms should
be level or sloping slightly down. Your wrists should be
straight, not sloping upwards. If they slope up, the
keyboard is too high. This is why you need a FULLY
ADJUSTABLE computer desk, i.e., the monitor and the
keyboard should have their own platforms that can be
raised or lowered separately as required. The top of the
monitor should be about level with the top of your head,
i.e., you should be looking straight into the screen, not
with your head bowed.

You could build a desk specially to your measurements,
but this doesn't make allowance for computer upgrades
(for instance, going from a desktop machine, where the
monitor can sit on top of the computer, to a tower model,
or switching from a 15' to a 21' monitor"