Computer Ergonomics

Remember the guy who said work smarter not harder.  That is how we need to approach our work stations.  I am not talking about work per se, but the tools we use to perform our work – the mouse, the keyboard, the telephone, etc.

By eliminating as much of the computer related stress as we can – in general we will assure ourselves more productive and more rewarding working careers.  Simple improvements such as an ergonomic keyboard, a comfortable mouse, comfortable positioning of your mouse and keyboard and proper placement of your phone and / or ten key pad can make a big difference in the aches and pains that you take home from work with you.  Most of these improvements are inexpensive and some are free.

A quick look around the internet (as well as a quick look through my other blog posts) will produce volumes of information regarding the basics of ergonomics and how to apply them to your particular work environment.

Since I am a practicing chiropractor I can tell you that I see more patients now who complain of injuries related to computer work than those related to any type of heavy labor.  Most if not all of these patients could have avoided their injuries by making a few simple ergonomic changes to their work stations. 

In these tough economic times you have to be proactive with your health and how it relates to your ability to work.  We have seen many injured workers over the years lose their jobs – don’t become one of them!  Many larger companies have ergonomics specialists who will properly set your computer for your height and body dimensions.  If you don’t have access to these specialists through your work consider hiring one.

Take Care,

Dr. Steve Jones

Chiropractor

(619) 280-0554

Ergonomic Solutions

Almost all types of cumulative stress involve some combination of poor posture or postural stress, excessive amounts of force and repetitious motion.

Work that requires people to either hold prolonged fixed positions (computer worker) or awkward, stressful positions (auto mechanics) can generate a significant amount of biomechanical stress in the joints and soft tissues of the upper extremities. Postural stress usually results from overloading specific muscle groups, from uneven weight bearing stress of joints or from assuming positions that require prolonged muscular contractions to hold a joint or joints still over a long period of time.

Exerting muscular force without adequate recovery time is another major contributor to the development of cumulative stress injuries. Some types of work require prolonged contraction of certain muscle groups, which reduces blood flow resulting in fatigue. Muscles do not work efficiently under these conditions and without adequate recovery time will result in injury and possibly long term disability.

Highly repetitious movements of specific joints also contribute to cumulative stress syndrome. High frequency movements demand faster and stronger contractions of the muscles. Joints and muscles that are required to work in these conditions require more recovery time. Without adequate recovery time injury of the joints, muscles and tendons can occur.

All of the factors listed above should be taken into consideration when designing or evaluating an existing work area and / or work duties.

One of the best things that you can do to combat cumulative stress is taking frequent breaks, rotating job duties and getting much needed rest. All of these simple safe guards will help in keeping you healthier and more productive through the course of your work life.

Here’s To Your Health

Dr. Jones
(619) 280-0554 San Diego
Economical Adjustable Mouse Platform

San Diego Chiropractic

Pain Relief San Diego Chiropractor

Ergonomic Forum Ergonomic Mouse Pad

Ergonomics is big business these days. A quick look at any web site that sells ergonomic office products will have you astonished by how many products are available and how expensive they can be. It seems as though there is a product out there for nearly any workstation improvement that you can think of.

I invented and manufacture a product called the Ergo Nav. It is a chair mounted ergonomic mouse platform that is intended to keep you from having to lurch over your desk to reach your mouse. I will be the first to tell you that buying my product will only provide minimal benefit if you don’t also have your keyboard situation sorted out, or if your monitor is not positioned correctly or if your chair does not properly support your back.

Most of our issues with ergonomics involve poor posture. Poor posture is a learned behavior that can and does affect us regardless of whether or not our work stations are riddled with the latest ergonomic contraptions. That being said, when ergonomic devices are present, they can help us better control our posture by not forcing us into posturally stressful positions.

For example, my Ergo Nav positions your mouse relatively close to your body which makes leaning forward for your mouse unnecessary. However, without being consciously aware of your posture, even with my Ergo Nav properly attached, you can still work with a slumped posture or if your monitor is not positioned correctly you can expose your neck to loads of postural stress.

My point is this. Ergonomic things won’t eliminate postural stress on their own. Reduction of postural stress requires a conscious effort on your part. Remember that the next time you are considering spending hundreds of dollars on that keyboard tray.

Here’s To Your Health

Dr. Jones
(619) 280-0554 San Diego
Economical Adjustable Mouse Platform

San Diego Chiropractic

Pain Relief San Diego Chiropractor

Ergonomic Blog

Cumulative Trauma or CTDs is a wear and tear of the bony and soft tissue components of a joint because of overuse. In my San Diego based chiropractic clinic, I treat people on a daily basis who suffer from CTDs. CTDs can result from poor lifting habits, straining the neck, long hours of light force repetition without adequate rest time, awkward reaching, etc.

The irritation that results in Cumulative Trauma disorders accumulates over time, eventually resulting in a breakdown of the involved joint or joints and its muscles and ligaments. Symptoms from CTDs include soreness, pain, restricted range of motion, numbness, cracking noises in joints, weakness and clumsiness.

The potential end result of cumulative trauma disorders can be hand pain, wrist pain, neck pain, back pain, elbow pain, shoulder pain and leg pain.

What is the best cure for CTDs? Prevention. Application of good ergonomic principles to your work environment as well as tasks that you undertake outside of work is vital. A CTD may takes years to start causing symptoms and can also take a prolonged period of care to resolve. CTDs that go untreated can potentially cause permanent disability or symptoms that never completely resolve.

CTDs are serious and should be treated that way.

Here’s To Your Health

Dr. Jones

San Diego Chiropractic Center
Pain Relief San Diego Chiropractor Blog

From a postural standpoint, one of the worst things that we can do to our bodies is slouch while we sit. Sitting seems like such an innocent, non-injurious activity. This is far from the case.

I have been practicing chiropractic in San Diego for the last 15 years and what I have seen in practice regarding back injuries would be surprising to most people in non-medical careers. The average person that I speak with regarding back pain and injuries is of the mind set that low back pain is the result of jobs that require heavy lifting or contact sports, golfing or car accidents.

In reality, it is the constant stress and strain of postural stress that is the biggest burden on our spines. The postural stress of sitting for hours on end in a task chair in front of a computer can become overwhelming. When our bodies are exposed to a specific stress over a long period of time, the effects that the stress places on our bodies has a cumulative effect. Over the course of months or years that cumulative stress expresses itself as pain, stiffness or more serious symptoms.

When I am explaining the ongoing cumulative effects of postural stress to my chiropractic patients I like to use the classic example of the Chinese water torture. Those first couple hundred drops of water on the forehead aren’t bothersome - but a few hundred drops more will make you truly miserable. The same process happens to your low back as the minutes, hours, days, months and years pass with you sitting in a computer chair.

There is a chart floating around that I have come across in several texts that relates your bodies posture with the amount of stress that each particular posture generates on the discs in the lower back. As the chart demonstrates, the level of stress increases as the subject transitions from a prone position to a standing position to seated position to a slumped forward seated position. The chart shows the pressure in the discs to equal 100% of your body weight while standing, approximately 125% of your bodies weight while sitting and over 140% of your body weight when sitting in a forward slumped position.

The reason that sitting is so hard on your back from a postural standpoint is due to the anatomy of the lower back vertebra. When we are standing, your lower back naturally has a forward sweeping curve with the concavity of that curve facing rearward. That curve acts to efficiently divide the weight of your body between the discs that separate your vertebra and the joints that run down the back of your spine. When you assume a seated position, that curve straightens out transferring some of your weight from the posterior joints to the discs. Slumping forward transfers even more weight resulting in more compression of the discs and more stress on the low backs discs.

As time passes, this increase pressure causes irritation of the overloaded spinal structures eventually leading to inflammation, spasm and pain. This is the basic process with many injuries to the body that result from ongoing exposure to some irritating or stressful activity.

How is this postural stress negated? Well, unfortunately, all if it can’t be. But it can be limited by practicing good posture and the right ergonomic principals. A brief ergonomic evaluation of your work area can give you loads of valuable information that will help minimize the effects of your work environment on your body.

Sitting is a sedentary task but like most things in life, if you don’t do it properly there will be undesirable consequences.

Work Safe!

Here’s To Your Health

Here’s To Your Health

Dr. Jones
(619) 280-0554 San Diego

Economical Adjustable Mouse Platform

San Diego Chiropractic

Pain Relief San Diego Chiropractor

Ergonomic Forum Ergonomic Mouse Pad

As a practicing San Diego Chiropractor who has concerns for my patients’ well being, I get out of my office frequently in order to check up on my patients, ergonomic situations.

Poor computer ergonomics account for a substantial percentage of the conditions that my patients complain of.

The typical patient that presents to my office with neck pain, shoulder pain, back pain, elbow pain or carpal tunnel syndrome has a poor ergonomic set up that is fueling their symptoms. Often times, there are easy or inexpensive “fixes” for these ergonomic issues.

If your monitor is too low for example, you have the option of very inexpensive fixes as well as very expensive fixes. For a cheap fix that is actually free, you could raise your monitor on a stack of phone books. On the other hand, you could purchase a wall or desk mounted monitor arm and spend hundreds of dollars.

The same is true for keyboard tray solutions. I bought my keyboard tray from Fry’s for about $20.00. It works great for my application. There are keyboard trays, however, that cost hundreds of dollars. Some inexpensive computer desks with keyboard trays only cost a few hundred dollars.

Another example of ergonomic solutions is my Ergo Nav mouse pad. A regular mouse pad that sits on your desk and is not ergonomic may cost $5 to $20. My Ergo Nav, that mounts to your computer chairs armrest retails between $40 and $70 while some mouse platforms sell for well over $100.

Ergonomic solutions are not always expensive but can save you a great deal in future medical costs if implemented sooner rather than later.

Here’s To Your Health

Dr. Jones

Economical Adjustable Mouse Platform

San Diego Chiropractic

Pain Relief San Diego Chiropractor

Ergonomic Forum Ergonomic Mouse Pad