Computer Related Health Hazards
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) is a Repetitive Stress Injury (RSI) caused when the median nerve is pushed by the flexor tendons inside the tunnel made up of the wrist bones, or carpals. Symptoms of CTS injury : Pain that may run up the hand into the wrist and arm, Numbness and coldness in the hands, Loss of strength and/or joint movement, Discomfort and stiffness in the hands, The need to massage your hands, wrists and arms, Swelling and coldness in the hand. Reasons for CTS injury are Stress will increase muscle tension causing pain, Long hours in the keyboard, especially those that type more than four hours, Lack of circulation in the muscles that prevents nutrients and oxygen to reach the tissues, Inadequate rest and breaks, Genetic predisposition due to the amount of lubrication of the flexor tendons that one receives and the tunnel’s geometry, Other health problems like diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis, Poor posture including the sitting, placement of hands on the keyboard and proper height of the keyboard, Poor diet (lack of vitamins).
Eye Strains
Eye strain is the single largest complaint of VDT users causing soreness, irritation, blurred vision, redness, dryness and tenderness of the eyes. Symptoms of Eye Strains are impaired vision, double vision and blurred vision, difficulty looking at one point for a period of time, itchy dry eyes and discomfort while looking at the VDT, headaches. Eye fatigue that can have serious impact later in life. Reasons for this injury are bad monitor resolution, flickering, or glare at the monitor, poor lighting conditions in the computer room, electromagnetic radiation emitted by the VDT (UVA), staring at anything for a long period of time will cause blurred vision, loss of negative ions in the atmosphere due to electrostatic charges on the face of the CRT.
Eye Strain Treatment is: Use your knowledge of ergonomics, take breaks when you feel strained, use your laptop when possible because the monitor emits less radiation, adjust the brightness of your screen, wear protective eye glasses.
Use the 20-20-20 rule. Every 20 minutes, take a 20-second break and focus your eyes on something at least 20 feet away.
Internet Addiction
Use Internet every day without days off, loosing track of time while surfing the Net, staying home more loosing social contacts, denial of high usage, 51% of Internet addicts suffer severe job impairment, 58% get addicted within the first 12 months of Internet usage.
Stress and Depression
Computer operators experience more stress than any other occupational group the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health has studied
Other Computer Related Health Hazards
Back problems (pain) caused from the efforts of the muscle to hold your posture for long periods of time, Skin rashes that are caused from the static fields in front of the screen causing ions and pollutants in the air to become positively charged and attach themselves to your negatively charged skin (especially in low humidity).
A few ergonomic advices
Use a chair that has full support of your back, is adjustable, and has a footrest and armrest, place your feet firmly on the floor, use an ergonomic keyboard that is angled or can split to enjoy a more natural typing position, use a wrist rest that is comfortable, place your hands straight when typing, the angle of your forearm and upper arm should be 90 degrees, sit 24 to 28 inches away from your monitor, place the monitor 15-30 degrees below your straight-ahead line of sight, keep your body away from the sides and backs of monitors to reduce the exposure of radiation, avoid glare on your monitor (do not have strong sources of light in your back) and use screens that minimize glare, use the proper light in your work environment that is compatible with the monitor frequency.
55 replies on “Computer Related Health Hazards by Dr Anil Takkar(AGM-Med) and Dr Vertika”
Nice article. Informative and precisely for moren living. Keep it up.
Looking forward to more such informative articles .
Thanks ?
Thanks sir, I shall surely continue to give my inputs.
Very nice and informative
Very nice and informative..
Points to be added
1 arm should be above the keyboard level
2 air conditioner.. temperature ..Must not be below 27 degree..
It’s a dehumidifier..So keep some plant or water in a bowl..In room
3. Frequent blinking while working..On laptop.. Increase the inflow and outflow of tears..Brings more oxygen..And maintain tear film stability and tear film.. synchronization of the layers..Because loss of aqueous layer.. Disturb the equilibrium of layers..
After 20 minutes of work..20 second break..Go off screen..Or close the eyes..Or put some lubricants..Eye drops..
Excellent article for everyone specially in this pandemic era due to work from home and online classes as everyone is using computer or mobile.
Very well written and highlighted all the salient points. Information is important for all of us and makes us think how we can balance work n health
Very nice
Very helpful post, and ever so relevant in the modern age of computers. Ergonomics tips are very useful. ?
Congratulations Madam for such a wonderful article when the world is going digital. I think excessive use of mobile is also causing stress to eyes. I think use of special glasses for working on computer or mobiles will be beneficial. Brand names of such glasses may be given for general public.
As an IT professional I often find myself dealing with such issues. This is a great read and helps me to keep in mind things I can do to make myself more relaxed and productive
Great
Informative
????
It’s very informative and useful article. Now-a-days most of the people are spending a lot of time on laptops, mobiles and computers without knowing the consequences of the same. This will help in spreading awareness among the people and help them to take precautions and to lead a better life. Thanks a lot for your well thought initiative. You all are doing a great job and we hope to receive many more educative and informative articles on such issues.
Nice article. But how to keep away from computers which has become an integral part of our lives. Children are most vulnerable. May throw some light on life style adjustments to cope with this.
First of all there should be take rest with in one hours n mooov here n there so that becom refresh it will the load of …eye…hand..back side..n.. fingers..
after that Displays should be too much normal. So that there should not be effect of …..
.. chair should be flexible .
… cabinet of computer all Devices should not harmful of parts of our body. it should be research of harmful part of computer n change them .so that human kind scap with Hazard’s of computer.
… Computer is types of enemy of humen kind.
Nice article ?.more informative.waiting such more articles in future.
Very informative and relevant subject in today’s era where we use electronic gadgets for everyday tasks, office and personal works. We tend to look at one or the other screen during most of the day and night. Pollution and sleep deprivation also takes a toll on the eyes as they are quite sensitive.
We tend to overlook eyes and mainly bother about our BMI and waistline. So we should also incorporate eye yoga excercises like Blinking, palming, eye-rotation etc to improve flexibility and reduce fatigue caused by looking constantly at screens.
Waiting for such good articles in future.
Congratulations to both of you
for bringing out such a informative article.With the recent crisis entire World is facing today ,this has practically converted whole system of working in to digital .Very well written and highlighted all the salient points. Information is important for all of us and makes us think how we can balance work and health.
I think excessive use of laptop & mobile is also leading stress to eyes. I think use of special glasses for working on computer or mobiles will be beneficial. Expecting many more from you for all such Health related issues. Keep it up .
Nice article. Just a comment. The 20-20-20 rule for computer vision syndrome is something which can be practiced by anyone using computers for a longer duration ( more than 6-7 hours a day ) on a daily basis. The 20-20-20 rule is defined as a 20-second break to look at something 20-feet away every 20-minutes. Your eyes will be grateful to you.
Well timely article as people are more prone to these problems due to wfh. Every one don’t have even a place or ergonomically designed chair to sit in right posture.
I Suggest a write up on *care for body n eyes post long drive and or traffic jam.
Excellent, as a paediatrician my recommendation is to curtailed total screen time for children should not be more then 14 hours per wk and zero below 2 yrs
I have already taken treatment for computer syndrome from you at vindhyanagar around 7years ago and following your suggestions.This is very nice article nice article specially in view of online classes of small children.
Very useful and well explained.
Keep it up.
Thanks to Vartika Madam and Dear Dr Tekker.
# Dr Takkar
Very informative and detailed article for todays world when many professionals and students are expending most of the time on screen
Very relevant for tech professionals. I have personally experienced muscle discomfort due to overworking on the keyboard and cellphone. You never think it’s going to affect you but it can, so it’s important to cultivate a preventive approach. Thanks for spreading the word! 🙂
Very informative and great learnings. Please keep it up and enlighten all around.
Very important topic for day to day practice. Computer related health hazards has became a disorder because of not adopting healthy operating practices. It is affecting not only eyes but whole body gets affected, an important cause of backache and Radiculopathy too. More updates and studies are required.
Nowadays WhatsApp syndrome has come up.
Very informative and precise article will be very useful.
With WFH the new normal , technology and IT related stress is going to increase . Special care is to be taken so that our eyes , hands and our mind is not affected . This article is useful to minimise the stress . Kudos
Nice & informative article
Nicely Compiled and informative too
A very informative article which sensitizes us of the issues we face everyday.I myself have encountered these in a moderate level each day and now its more because of WFH.
Congratulations on a good initiative foe public information…looking forward to more
Computer has become a necessary evil of our life. The Article gives an insight about the ill effects of computers and is quite informative with advise for preventing computer related illness.
Wish you would be writting regular on the issues related to lifestyle in the present era .
Amazing article. Very easily readable and informative. We need more such articles to lead a healthy life. Thanks a lot!
Useful & informative from the vesatile & energetic eye specialist & Dr Takkar.
Very nicely written..very informative. Many people will be benefitted.
A very nice article specially in today’s era where we are surrounded by computer and mobile.
Very use ful & informative article at this time since children’s are going through online for their studies so I request for more such article to publish for present & coming generation to live a healthy life style
Thanks a lot!
Very useful article for IT Professional who works long time in front of computer. It is really informative and helpful for us. Thanks for writing such blogs.
Very informative and useful article based on your research. It will help readers of this article change there approach. Thank you for sharing.
Excellent work
Very nice and informative..
Points to be added
1 arm should be above the keyboard level
2 air conditioner.. temperature ..Must not be below 27 degree..
It’s a dehumidifier..So keep some plant or water in a bowl..In room
3. Frequent blinking while working..On laptop.. Increase the inflow and outflow of tears..Brings more oxygen..And maintain tear film stability and tear film.. synchronization of the layers..Because loss of aqueous layer.. Disturb the equilibrium of layers..
After 20 minutes of work..20 second break..Go off screen..Or close the eyes..Or put some lubricants..Eye drops..
Good details for modern day lifestyle .. more over this would be helpful to younger generation who are almost hocked up to laptops and mobile devices because of their work requirements.
Keep updating .
Best wishes .
Thnx for writting such informative article because its usefull for everyone young or old who are sitting on computer or any gaggets for longer duration in present day life.
Very Informative. Lot of information to grasp and implement in practical life, specially in this era when we are addicted to our screens.
Dear Mam This was informative and an eye- opening article to those who continuously sit on computers and addicted to mobile . Really it puts a lot of stress on our eyes and brain. Even I myself is suffering from dry eyes problem.Thank you Mam for taking such a wonderful step to spread awareness about the same. Also good luck for your next article.
Extremely informative and good article. Concisely put up and it is the need of the hour to have more such helpful articles on the internet. One needs health experts like you who communicate with masses through such medium. Because internet is what people look up to these days for all such informations. Looking forward to more such articles.
excellent article by expert in present scenario , expect such information in future
Article gives an expert detail of health hazard we tend to ignore and they gradually manifest in to chronic deceases.
A(CTS) cure could cost upwards of Rs 60000. Prevention of addiction to Internet and Depression would cost much higher.
Self help procedures explained in the article are extremely useful.
Congratulations to both Excellent. Nice article Information for more living. Relevant information modern age of computer laptop mobile. Thanks to Dr Vartika.
Very informative and apt in today’s context.
Keep it up good work.
Excellent inputs on self care while using screen.A much needed advice during lockdown.
Very informative and apt in today’s context
This article is really very useful in today’s world effected by Corona virus ,when total world is forced to work on computers from their home .There is very little mobility of people nowadays and the only friend and entertainment media apart from work is computer & Surfing.Thus this article will help people in overcoming side effects of computers and will guide people to stay healthy and fit.
Madam, I know you are always involved in doing things that improves people well being and so request you to continue such good work for humankind.
with best wishes