While our laptops have almost become an extension of our personalities – a virtual office and easy window on any aspect of the world we choose – plugging in 18/7 can adversely affect our physical health. Here’s how to recognise negative habits and know when to switch off.

REPETITION BREEDS INFLAMMATION
Repeating the same motion (typing on the keyboard, moving the wrist from one side to the other when using the mouse) can lead to serious inflammation of muscles and joints. Both Repetitive Stress Injury and Carpal Tunnel Syndrome tend to affect over 30-year-olds, and occur when too much pressure is placed on a joint, causing pain and swelling in the tendons, muscles and bursa.
SOLUTION: Make sure your wrists slightly lower than your elbows, position your knees so that they are slightly higher than your hips and keep your feet flat on the floor (or on a stool or platform). Take regular breaks (you could set your PC alarm to remind you) – at least a five-minute stroll every hour and stretch occasionally. Make small changes like walking up to your colleague to talk rather than e.mailing or electronically chatting to him/her. Get into a simple exercise routine, as too much or the wrong kind, can worsen the condition: hold a book in each hand and raise your arms in an arc over your head 10 times an hour. Consider getting a splint to hold to decrease pain, swelling and stiffness both during the day and at night.

PAIN IN THE NECK?
Computer neck, shooting pains caused by long hours at the computer and poor posture is not an isolated phenomenon, says Paul Linden, author of Comfort at Your Computer: Body Awareness Training for Pain-Free Computer Use (North Atlantic Books). “It has to do with how you use your arms, spinal column, pelvis and legs.”
SOLUTION: Reorganize your workspace, get an ergonomic chair, and adjust your workstation to your body, not the other way round, says Kermit Pattison, a journalist for Experience Life. Set your chair at a height that allows your feet to rest comfortably on the floor, with knees slightly lower than hips. Your back should be straight, thighs should be parallel to the floor or sloping down very slightly. Both your keyboard and mouse should be at a height that allows your forearms to be level with the floor and your screen should rest directly in front of you at, or just below, eye level, to avoid craning, which triggers posture dysfunctions and chronic muscle tension in the back and neck.

TAKE THE BLINKERS OFF
Our eyes are not designed to concentrate on something at such a short distance and perform best when looking at something six metres away. Staring at a computer means we blink a lot less than usual, our eyes get less lubrication than they need, and eyestrain maladies ranging from blurred vision and headaches to poor refocusing and double vision result.
SOLUTION: Start the day with simple eye exercises and make a conscious effort to blink periodically. Try to place your PC in front of an open space (not a window, as this could cause a glare) as far away from your eyes as is comfortably possible and follow the 20/20 rule (see computer mini-workout). Buy an anti-glare screen, clean dust regularly and adjust screen brightness so that character illumination is 10 times brighter than the background, and room illumination three times brighter than the screen background, says optometrist Dr Marc Grossman, who recommends the following exercise. Hold your thumb 15 centimetres from your nose, and focus on your thumb. Take one deep breath and exhale slowly; then focus on an object about 25 centimetres away; take another deep breath and exhale slowly. Repeat 15 times.
Treat your eyes to an occasional drop of rose water, or get a solution containing polyvinol alcohol or methylcellulose.

FOLLOW FLIGHT INSTRUCTIONS
Sitting at your PC for hours is not unlike taking long flights and may cause blood clots to form in your legs and move to your lungs like Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT), say New Zealand researchers who suggested coining the condition eThrombosis. Though not common, the condition was first observed in 2003 when a 32-year-old man lost consciousness through a pulmonary embolism after sitting at his computer regularly for 12 hours at a time without getting up.
SOLUTION: Periodically rotate the ankles and wiggle the toes while sitting at your computer. If you feel soreness or tightness in your legs, do light exercise to get the blood flowing. “I would advise everybody to think about exercising every 15 minutes, even if it’s just pushing up to tip toes to work the calf muscles, because this can make all the difference. Drinking lots of water is also important,” says exercise scientist Steve Hunter, who researched DVT at London’s South Bank University in 2006.

CUT OUT LAZY HABITS
Sitting at a desk for six hours every day doubles the chances of becoming overweight and weakens muscle tone, which decreases with age anyway.
SOLUTION: In your chair, regularly stretch your arms and legs as if you were trying to grasp something just beyond your reach. Contract, hold and release abdominal and gluteus muscle groups repeatedly to maintain muscle tone. Once an hour or so, get up from your chair and do a full body stretch. Try to go to gym often, turn household chores into opportunities for exercise: take the dog for a walk, walk up the stairs instead of taking the lift, walk instead of driving for short distances. If you can’t manage a lunch hour break, eat six small meals every day, and get up to eat them – besides aiding your digestion, this will cut chances of contaminating your PC. From a mental point of view, read the newspaper, do calculations in your head and exercise your imagination instead of surfing the web for answers.

BREATHE EASY
Another offshoot of prolonged computer concentration is what Dinah Morrison, author of Hyperventilation Syndrome/Breathing Disorders (Tandem Press), calls occupational overuse syndrome. “Most people become so engrossed in what they are doing they lose perspective of all time, and worst of all their bodies. Intense or long concentration spans can cause adrenalin to pump, muscles to tense and breath holding,” says Morrison, who maintains most computer-inflicted muscoskeletal damage is exacerbated by poor breathing and/or hyperventilation.
SOLUTION: Whenever you can (every five minutes is preferable), says Morrison, stop, breathe out, drop your shoulders down, but not to a slouch. “Breathe in through your nose as you expand your waist; breathe out through your nose, drop your shoulders, relax the jaw and shake or rattle your hands.” This stops you breathing too quickly, which burns up energy unnecessarily. After hours, meditation, prayer, deep breathing exercises and relaxation tapes all help to relax the mind and body and eliminate back ache, stiff necks, tight jaw and achy hands.

SWITCH TO SLEEP MODE
A study at the University of Maryland Medical Centre shows that too many hours at the computer can cause insomnia. Apart from interfering with the biological sleep clock, exposure to certain light rays from the computer screen interferes with the body’s production of melatonin, which is necessary for a good night’s sleep, says American sleep specialist Michael Breus.
SOLUTION: Stop working at least two hours before going to sleep. Rather wake up early and finish the assignment you are trying to finish and don’t play computer games as they over-stimulate the brain. If you have to keep your computer in the bedroom, make sure it is switched off, advises Breus.

MINI COMPUTER WORKOUT
Before work: Half hour yoga, meditation or jog.
Start your day: Eye exercises, set alarm to ping every hour, check your workstation and chair are correctly positioned.
Throughout the day: Check and adjust breathing rate, stare into the distance, blink often, drink lots of water.
Every 15 minutes: Do calf, ankle exercises.
Every 20 minutes: Look 20 feet away for 20 seconds; replace an e.mail or SMS with a stroll and conversation.
Every hour: Do repetition exercises, full body stretch, take a five-minute stroll.
After work: Gym or exercise routine, pack your laptop in a backpack that divides the weight evenly between the shoulders.
Two hours before bed: Switch off your PC.
Once a month: Go for a head, neck and shoulder massage.

Published in Aquarius, Dubai, 2008.