PREVENTING PAIN CAUSED BY LONG PERIODS OF COMPUTER USE by Laraine Anne Barker

If you use a computer for much of your day you MUST take

steps to prevent the crippling pain this can cause. The

first thing to consider is the correct (ergonomic) set-up

of your computer desk and chair.

Both the chair seat and its back should be adjustable.

The chair back should have good lumbar support and you

should be able to adjust it to fit neatly into your back

while you're sitting in the chair. The seat should have

gas lift to make adjusting its height easy and should

slope down at the front so that the back of your thighs

are not put under pressure. With your back against the

chair back you should be able to sit up STRAIGHT--not

slumped either backwards or forwards--and your feet

should rest firmly on the floor. If you feel the need for

a footstool, your chair height is definitely too high.

With your fingers on the keyboard, your forearms should

be level or sloping slightly down. Your wrists should be

straight, not sloping upwards. If they slope up, the

keyboard is too high. This is why you need a FULLY

ADJUSTABLE computer desk, i.e., the monitor and the

keyboard should have their own platforms that can be

raised or lowered separately as required. The top of the

monitor should be about level with the top of your head,

i.e., you should be looking straight into the screen, not

with your head bowed.

You could build a desk specially to your measurements,

but this doesn't make allowance for computer upgrades

(for instance, going from a desktop machine, where the

monitor can sit on top of the computer, to a tower model,

or switching from a 15" to a 21" monitor). The monitor

distance from your seat, BTW, should be about arms

length.

Set up your computer in a position that doesn't allow

reflections in the monitor from windows or overhead

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BIO:

Laraine Anne Barker writes fantasy for young people.
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her web site at
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