Today’s world forces us to sit in front of computers for longer and longer hours as we work to pay our bills. And as if that weren’t enough we sit in front of another computer to relax ourselves when we get home. The toll that these actions have brought on man’s health will remain to be seen, but for now suffice to say that sitting in front of a computer is just not healthy. People are suffering from computer abuse.

Man was created to be out in the open living off of the land. He was never meant to be a ‘sitting and keyboard typing’ kind of creature. In fact no animal is. The physical condition of sitting in one place staring at another and moving fingers over a keyboard is very alien to the human physical constitution and can only lead to pain.

In reality almost every part of the body is affected by sitting in front of a computer. Let us go from top to bottom and see how your computer is slowly killing you:

1.       Headaches and Migraines: Computer usage can hit you real hard, real fast in a very painful place: your head. Computers are one of the main causes of migraines and headaches. The causes can be the radiation that is emitted from the monitor, the position of the monitor putting a strain on the back of your neck, or from eyes having to stare at one spot for a long time.

Cure: Take regular breaks, if you have a CRT monitor make sure that you use an anti-glare screen. It helps in radiation reduction and also controls the amount of light that is reflected into your eyes. Look away every five minutes. Make sure that you are looking straight into the monitor.

2.       Neck and Back: the head is held up by the spinal cord. This is the amazing human structure that starts at the base of the skull with the neck and ends in the small of the back. Sitting in one position for a long time not only bends the cord out of shape but can even lead to blood not circulating properly through it. And denying blood to such an important human body part can never be good.

Cure:  if you must sit for a long while, by all means do so. Just remember to get up and walk every few minutes. Alternatively, you can perform exercises while still working. The internet is full of workouts for when you are sitting in front of a computer.

3.       Hands and arms: you will need to use your hands when computing. Some people can type so fast it is hard to believe without actually seeing it. They even prefer using key board shortcuts to clicking on a mouse. This repetitive motion occurring at such speeds and over a long time will definitely lead to a wear-out of the wrists. It is called Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

Cure: try to use supports and ergonomic mouse pads if you are a regular worker. Avoid doing repetitive work. Take breaks and do wrist exercises as often as possible.

4.       Legs: as weird as it may seem, sitting for long in front of computers will also hurt you in the legs but the devastation is somewhere very far from it. Apart from being weak from muscle atrophy, blood can clot in the immobile leg and be the cause of a major black out when that clot travels to the victim’s lungs and blocks air from entering it. It is called Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT).

Cure: Do you remember when parents used to actually ask you to go out and play? Well that is what you need to heed to in this case. Go out and play!