the ergonomic scientist
[Sep, 2006]
One of my colleagues had sent a scary mail of photos of carpal tunnel surgery. That was definitely a mail to wake up to ?? However I'd say the mail is a bit of exaggeration just to use fear as a motivator ?? Whatever I'd found out with a good deal of research, carpal tunnel though a very serious thing, is very rare along the same risk as being struck down by lightning (and we know that it could happen).
The more common everyday problem with a much higher risk, is usually tendonitis – and that's bad enough by itself. Apart from common problems for the wrists, we also have the risk of developing knee pain (I got it because I was overweight) and also spondilitis (a real pain in the neck, literally) or back problems.
?One thing is that I feel I'm really fortunate that I got wrist, back and knee problems at quite a young age. The "Undo" key wrt health gets weaker and weaker as we grow older.
I seem to be more or less of the whole mess, and so I'm investing my lunch time in writing all this only so that other's don't unnecessarily get into it!
Apart from computer usage, there are some other reasons as well, eg one is being overweight, esp for knee problems (even if a person dosen't look overweight. Eg, now I'm overweight by more than 5 kgs – few years ago, I was overweight by 15+ kgs). And another is other repetitive action like driving a 2 wheeler. I've detailed all these is the story, which is a true and real one.
?In my opinion (based on my experience) one thing is that learning about ergonomics is definitely a good thing but is not the end. Ergonomics is based on studying a lot of people and is probably the best thing. But each person's physical structure and placement in the body is unique (though general anatomy is of course the same). This was hard to believe for me until I attended an exhibhition of anatomy of corpses many years ago and saw it for myself. But think about the uniqueness of fingerprints for example ?? Sometimes ergonomics may be idealistic and hard to implement. So each person after learning ergonomics, has to experiment, on an individual basis, and find out what is the optimal posture for him/her which can actually be implemented on a sustainable basis.
This is a excerpt from some source on breathing:
"Right now, stop and check on how you are sitting or standing. Slouched, are you?!? If you exist all-folded-up, you'll restrict your breathing, squash your internal organ functioning…"
This in my opinion is one of the simplest ideas to achieve correct ergonomics: Simply move your head a little vertically upwards towards the sky...
The chest, stomach, etc will "unfold" automatically and fall into place:-) The shoulders can be broadened and at the end of it, one might well feel taller and stronger. Every now and then the posture will droop again, but with practice this new one can become the “normal” posture! ??
Based on a book Posture of Meditation by Will Johnson, a key idea for correct ergonomics is that one could try to achieve minimal/zero extra muscular tension to counter gravitational force. If the body is slightly leaning in any direction, then we can notice we have to exert ourselves slightly to counter this leaning. Being in the perfectly vertical comfortable position, in alignment with gravity, is more relaxing and resilient to time.
An individual could become one's own ergonomic scientist. Developing the ability to listen to know what’s going on within oneself is a useful pre-requisite for this to be possible.