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[Tess (Tassie D)]

Hi Mary. I have a great lumbar support chair so my back doesn't ache any more. I have my monitor set up at arm's length form me and the top of the screen is level with my eyes. This height helps with the neck alignment and stops the aches and pains settling in. My keyboard is at a 45 degree angle from the screen so my eyes are focusing differently all the time, helps with the eye strain. Can you tell I used to teach occupational health for computers?

[glennab]

Mary, of course there's something wrong with you!  It's OPR-itis, and I think we all have it to some degree. As with you, I always promise myself I'll take a short break between restorations, and then I find myself immediately combing the galleries for my next challenge.

I'm in constant agony from sitting at a computer for 12 or more hours a day (my drugs are my friends!), but I'll sit here forever feeling like crap physically yet not wanting to give up on "just one more little area."  Fortunately I have a great office chair at home that I bought after I fractured my back.  It's a life-saver!  And my boss at work is concerned for our comfort, so I have a good chair there as well.  Trouble is, I get so involved that I forget to get up and move around and stretch. I practice all the ergonomic suggestions for keeping the strain to a minimum. (I so love my chiropractor!)  Since the cats need regular attention, that's gives me good reason to get up and cuddle them and walk around a bit.  But one day I can see myself getting up and finding that the chair has grown to my backside!

The conundrum of this whole syndrome is that I'm happy to be addicted.  Every completed restoration adds a little more joy to my life.  How the heck does one give up on that???  Why would one want to???

Tess, I find it interesting that you've taught occupational health for computers.  Any advice for the nummies who spend their lives in front of the darn things?

I think it'll take more than 12 steps to get over this obsession!  I'm waiting for my beloved to march in to my office and demand that I "step away from the computer!"

I think we'll just have to admit to this sickness and be proud of our affliction!

That's my story, and I'm sticking to it!

Hugs

Glenna

[Tess (Tassie D)]

Hi Glenna. This is very similar to the part I taught in computer classes. http://www.swinburne.edu.au/corporate/hr/ohs/ohs_ergonomics.htm It shows how the setup should be to minimize bad posture.

[Hannie]

That is great info Tess, thanks!  It is so important to have your workplace set up properly.  When I first started restoring for OPR last summer I developped the worst shoulder and neck pain imaginable.  My usual exercise, hot showers, massage, nothing eased the pain- I could hardly move my head and this went on for months.
Then I started to look for a solution on the the net and found out that not the muscles in the back but the pectoral muscles were the culprit.  I did this little exercise a few times a day and within 2 days the pain had completely disappeared, still has!
:)


"Pec" Stretch (For pectoral muscles in front of your chest)

1.Face a wall.  Lift one hand up, elbow bent out to the side, as if "in a stickup." Shoulder down and relaxed.
2.Turn away from the wall, using the wall to gently brace your elbow back as you turn away, shown in the middle and right-hand photos, below.
3.Keep your shoulder down and back. If you bring it up and forward, you will be doing the opposite of the point of this training movement.
4.Feel the stretch in the front of your chest. If you don't feel the stretch in the front chest, you are not doing this stretch right.
5.Keep head and back posture in line. Don't let your lower back arch or your chin jut forward. Don't push so hard that your shoulder (or anywhere else) hurts.
6.Hold just a few seconds, then switch arms.

Hannie

[mschonher]

I'm so glad that I mentioned my neck and back problems. You all have such great tips, now I need to figure out how to apply them to my work station.

Glenna and Tassie, what brand of chair are you using? I've been considering replacing my old one and now after reading your comments I'm eager to get a new one.

Since I got my Mac, the monitor is higher than my old one and my neck has gotten worse. Today I'm trying to work with the monitor placed in a downward angle. That's the only way I can lower it unless I get a new desk.  I have been struggling with the mac keyboard as I've used an ergonomic keyboard for years.  Got any ideas on what to use to put it at an angle?

Glenna, every day I tell myself that I'm going to take a break from my restorations in order to give my aching muscles a break, and every day I'm back at work.  I actually do feel a sort of anxiety unless I have a photo to work on.  I know I'm weird!

Hannie, I'm going to start that exercise today to see if it will help.

Thanks everyone for the great tips.

Mary

[cmpentecost]

Thanks for sharing these tips Tess, and the link to the proper set up for a desk.  I'm not sure if it's from a lot of time at the computer or if I jammed my wrist skiing this winter, but my right hand goes numb at night, and is always colder compared to the left hand.  I've already made a change to my work station after seeing your website link.  Thanks!

Chris

[glennab]

Mary, I have a Laz-Y-Boy office chair that's been one of my best friends for years.  It's a little the worse for wear (Smoke has made biscuits on the upper back to the point that it's nothing but shredded foam.  So I now have a dhurri rug on top of the back and a tailored shirt holding it on (Looks a bit like the headless computer gremlin!)  But the rest is in good shape, and it, along with a pillow, keeps me relatively comfortable.

Most Mac keyboards come with short legs on the back so they can be slanted.  And I'd recommend one of their new keyboards (I have one with my I-Mac at work, and using it is nearly effortless.  As for neck and shoulder problems, that has always been a problem for me because I'm very tall from the waist up.  I have a "high chair" at work to keep my torso enough above the desk top that using the mouse doesn't cause much stress.

Home is another story.  I'm going to have to rearrange again because I don't have space for my tablet and all the cats.  The desk is U shaped, and the other end of the U is wider, so I'm going to switch the Mac Pro and G3 and see if that helps.  I have to be cognizant of the fact that I can't face away from the door (terrible fung shui), I have a swimming-pool-sized litter box for which I'll have to find another place, and I now have at least 4 cats that like to spread out behind the monitor while I'm working.  It's never easy!  (All that spaghetti on the floor – and which plug goes where??? ARGHHHHH)

I've also found that yoga neck exercises are great when I've sat for hours at the computer and am getting stiff.

All that said, most of the time I'm go engrossed that I'm not even aware of being uncomfortable – until I get up from the desk.  Yes, thank you, I WILL have some cheese with that whine!

Glenna

[Tess (Tassie D)]

This is my chair. http://www.progressiveoffice.com.au/images/Products/Chairs/sheraton.jpg

Chris have you ever had your wrist checked for carpal tunnel damage? That could be one reason for the numbness. It could also be how you rest your wrist on the desk while using the mouse or a skiing accident. Either way I would get it checked out.

[mschonher]

 Glenna, I didn't know mac had any other keyboards available, I'll look into that. Thanks Glenna. I guess the best way to choose a chair is to go to the store and try them out. A Lazy Boy office chair sounds very expensive!

Tassie, your chair looks interesting, I'm going to check that one out too. I think I might already have a higher chair downstairs in my studio, I'll have my hubby bring it up today and try it out but I'm not sure my feet will touch the ground if I raise it up so I can have eye contact with the upper part of my monitor. I'm willing to try anything to be more comfortable at the desk.

Chris, I frequently have numbness in my fingers during the night, it acts up when my neck and shoulders are irritated.  That being said, you really should be checked out for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

Mary

[glennab]

Mary, I was lucky enough to find the chair at an office rental store. It was used (not that I could tell) so I got a discount on it.  Even then, it was quite pricey, but having just fractured my back, I figured I'd better get the best one I could.  It's been a gem!

I worked at a different place at the time, and the plant manager was sweet enough to give me his chair (a huge leather monster) until I was over the worst of the pain.  My nickname was "Queen Glen-tifa."

My chair at work is so high that my feet don't touch the floor either, but there's a bar on which I can rest my feet about halfway between the floor and the seat (rather like a bar stool).  There are adjustable foot rests available (I've seen them in office supply stores.)

I wasn't sure whether the new keyboards were available except with the I-Mac until I saw one in the PC/Mac Mall catalog.  It's very thin, and the keys move effortlessly and quietly.  I love it.  Gonna use some of my "mad money" to get one for home.

Right now my main problem is of the feline type.  Unless you have the number of cats I do, you can't imagine the debris they create in a day.  Everything in my office is permeated with cat fur, interspersed with gobs of barf (i clean up at least 4 or 5 piles a day.  ECHHHHH!) and litter everywhere.  It's as if they have a daily mardi gras when I'm at work and toss all the obnoxious secretions and debris they can muster from one end of the house to the other.  Then there's the "stand in front of the monitor because I need attention" syndrome.  If that doesn't get me to stop, it's "let's walk on the keyboard and screw up everything she's done" routine.  My total wild cat (I haven't posted her photo yet) leaps from the back of my chair, to the computer, to a stack of boxes on my hutch, to the G3's monitor and to the top of the bookcase -- all in the space of a few seconds (this is from a running start in the next room).  Startles the daylights out of me. Then Scooter, Sniffles and Aaron Neville get into fist fights behind my monitor because there's not enough space for 3 monstrous cats. I'm owned by a group of major talents, believe me.  (But I love them so...)

Anyway, enough prattle.  I'd recommend that each of you get whatever you need, at whatever cost, to make the computer work more comfortable.  It's worth it!

Cheers,

Glenna