CEO LIFESTYLE 124 MAY 2014

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CEO LIFESTYLE 125 MAY 2014

Modern Maladies How bad are laptops for you

As all of us know, being right at the top has its downsides too, abnormal stress, sleeplessness, frequent travel and erratic eating habits, all of which lead to a host of ailments. Think CEO lifestyle

and high blood pressure and severe stress are probably the fi rst few maladies that come to your head. However, Rekha Shanmugham wishes to draw your attention to one particular object that faithfully tags along wherever you go – workspace, coffee shop, your bedroom, maybe

even your bathroom, and it could be causing more woes than you know.

CChanging lifestyles fast blur the line between luxury and necessity and the ubiquitous laptop transcended that line a long time ago to fi nd its place in the realm of indispensability. It has been more than fi ve years now since the laptop has bettered its older sibling, the desktop computer, in terms of global sales numbers. While the usefulness of the product dare not be doubted, excessive use coupled with the body curled in awkward ways has led many to complain of excruciating pain in several parts of their bodies. You must have heard of arthritis, but laptop-itis? Maybe, not. What about Hunched over Laptop Syndrome or HOLS? The golden age of the laptop computers dawned upon us more than a decade back but alas, the ailments weren’t far behind.

First things fi rst, the very design of laptop computers has been receiving fl ak from various healthcare experts ever since the onset of laptop-itis. Years of experience, observation and research went into the conceptualization of workstation designs, which in turn determine working postures. What with laptop computers taking precedence over desktop ones, ergonomics seems to have been fl ushed down the toilet. But please remember that the nomadic freedom comes at the cost of other restrictions. A monitor attached to the keyboard translates into very little or rather no fl exibility for the user to confi gure the equipment according to convenience. This means that some part of the body always undergoes a strain when using a laptop.

Keeping the laptop on your lap, as the name suggests, invariably means that you bend down and this strains your neck, shoulders and spine. Going all the way down, it could even affect your legs. Bending down to look at the screen mounts immense pressure on your neck. It interferes with the natural curve of your neck, leading to a strain that could get acute if done for an extended period of time. Nothing that

you do not already know, especially if you are one of those over-10-hours-a-day users yourself. It is not uncommon to see people using the trackpad with one hand while the other constantly massages the neck. However, what you might not know is this might even lead to Dowager’s Hump, a rounded hump at the base of the neck, a condition you ideally shouldn’t be bothered about until after you get old.

Staring at the screen for prolonged periods of time with the laptop placed on your lap automatically means that you begin to hunch. As time fl ies and people get more and more engrossed, the ‘C’ formed by your back gets even more pronounced. This is one of the worst things you could put your back through. Chiropractors have time and again warned about its debilitating effect on the spinal cord. In fact, several people in the habit of slouching over their screens have been found to be suffering from degeneration of the vertebral discs. This spinal degeneration could take turns as nasty as arthritis and permanent damage to the nerves. And interesting as it may be to witness the numerous positions people have come up with in order to be ‘comfortable’ while using their laptops, it is important to understand that no posture other than with your back straight is comfortable for your spine.

Prolonged laptop usage severely punishes the shoulders and wrists too. While laptops on desks strain your shoulders due to lack of support for the arms, placing them on your lap means that you invariably compress them to facilitate typing. Either way, the shoulder suffers and takes the wrist down with it too, should there be no support. Also, please note that while you are typing out the million mails, the nerve that passes through your wrist could be getting severely injured, and you could only be days away from getting the carpal tunnel syndrome. Needless to say, the device causes excessive strain to your eyes as well, especially if used in the

CEO LIFESTYLE 126 MAY 2014

BODYBASICS

dark. Constant itching, blurring of vision and reddening of eyes are signs that ask you to shut your eyes for a bit. Do not forget to hit the ‘sleep’ button though, for if your lap is constantly subjected to heat emanated from the device, you could suffer from the ‘toasted skin syndrome’, a brownish discolouration of skin. If unattended to, it can lead to permanent damage, and in very rare cases, skin cancer as well. The heat that emanates from the laptop could also cause temporary male infertility, for it can lead to a hot scrotum which in turn, means reduced capability to fertilize an egg.

Injuries due to excessive laptop usage reveal themselves very early. Even as you are reading this you could be massaging your cramped and sore shoulders. However, people most often fail to do anything about the pain which leads to R.S.I or repetitive strain injury. The body requires time to recuperate from the initial damage done, but sadly the competitive world gives it none. Neglect of the symptoms could lead to disastrous consequences. After all, people have been forced to quit their jobs due to ailments caused by prolonged laptop usage. Reasons to shun the device altogether may abound, but it is even blasphemous to suggest so, isn’t it? A pragmatic solution would be to exercise discretion, use it judiciously, stretch once in a while and pay attention to your posture.

Use an ergonomically designed chair

Adjust the screen so that you don’t have to bend your neck

Ensure that your wrists are in line with your arms and not raised above them

Avoid using the laptop for over half an hour

Flex your muscles often

Your body should form a 90 degree angle at the elbows, knees and hips when working on a computer

Drink water regularly while working to aid lubrication of the discs in your back

If you experience pain and tingling muscles, visit a doctor

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