The price of technology
Sitting in front of a computer for
a long time has lasting impact on our mental and physical health.
With technology becoming a major part
of our everyday lives, constant texting, checking e-mails and also sitting in
front of the desktop for long hours are leading to problems that have lasting
impacts on our mental and physical health. The commonly heard complaints are
pain in the neck, headaches, sleep disorders and repetitive strain injuries in
fingers.
But we have to face the truth — a
world without technology would be difficult to live in. Given the constraints,
the best option is to work towards a balance and opt for preventive steps for a
healthy body and mind.
Headaches
are now common
Experts state that the
electromagnetic radiation emitted from phones have thermal effects. The radio
waves emitted by mobile phones are absorbed by the body. Due to this reason we
get headaches as the blood flow in the brain is affected.
Dr J. Anish Anand, consultant of
internal medicine at Apollo Hospitals, says, “Thermal energy from phones
affects the skin and soft tissue due to which there are rashes. At the same
time, constant strain of trying to hear from a small device with limited voice
output affects the ear muscles. Wrong position of the neck and head is one of
the major causes of headaches.”
Sleep deprivation, stress and also
lack of sleep are some of the other symptoms. Sleep quality is also affected
when mobile phones are kept close by.
Recent research has shown damage to
the body’s cells by vibration signals. This growing evidence is becoming one of
the major reasons to ask people to switch off their phones at night so that
they can get sufficient sleep.
Maintain
proper posture at work
Earlier factory workers, dressmakers
and musicians would suffer from repetitive strain injury but now people working
on desktops are suffering from these problems. Constant typing and improper
sitting postures affect the forearms, elbows, wrists, hands, neck and
shoulders. Dr Sudhindra V., consultant, lifestyle and rehabilitation at Krishna
Institute of Medical Sciences Hospitals, says, “One of the major reasons for
this problem is lack of Vitamin D. Also most desktop jobs have people sitting
for eight to nine hours which alters the alignment of the spine in the lower
back region, leading to central obesity.”
Abnormal posture at work and doing
prolonged repetitive work in a wrong posture ends up aggravating the strain on
the body which finally results in pain, stiffness, throbbing, tingling or
numbness, weakness and cramps.
The best method to control these
problems is to maintain proper posture at work, getting up after every 20
minutes and taking a break by walking around. Gently stretching every two hours
is found to help a lot as it gives a positive signal to the muscles that they
must be active, added Dr Sudhindra.
A
recent study carried on IT professionals reported...
Clinical
cases have seen a rise due to constant use of technology in terms of mobile phones
and Internet addiction
Personality changes — irritability, anger, depression.
Tiredness and early fatigue syndrome.
Body pains and hearing problems.
Personality changes — irritability, anger, depression.
Tiredness and early fatigue syndrome.
Body pains and hearing problems.
Get off
that phone!
59 per cent of IT professionals
reported that they had experienced some form of computer related/repetitive
stress injury in the past 12 months.
Neck pain problems were the most
frequently reported where 30 per cent of the samples had experienced such
problems in the past 12 months.
Low back pain, wrists and hand pain
and, the shoulder pain were the reported symptoms where the annual prevalence
was reported as 25, 14 and 13 per cent.
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