To Your Health: Avoid computer and typing fatigue

Being an online journalist means spending a lot of time at the computer which sometimes means developing that nasty little tingling sensation in your arms and wrist. Does the increase in digital journalism mean an increase of journalists with carpal tunnel? WebMD says no:[Researcher Johan Andersen, MD, PhD] says his advice to people who do a lot of computer work and suffer from hand and arm pain is don't jump to conclusions that it's carpal tunnel syndrome."Most likely, symptoms that are mild will disappear," Andersen tells WebMD. "If you have numbness or tingling exclusively in the first, second, or third fingers, the likelihood is much higher that it's carpal tunnel syndrome. But if it's in the whole hand, it's not likely that it's carpal tunnel syndrome." Keep in mind I'm no doctor and a reporter is only as good as his sources. According to the professionals, there are some things that one can do to ease the stress from typing. From Microsoft Home Magazine:To give your wrists and muscles a rest, it's important to take frequent computer breaks. Mooney advises taking a five-minute stretching break every 15 minutes, preferably away from the computer. If you can't get away, stretching at the computer is still beneficial.There are even more valuable tips at essortment like looking away from the computer screen once in a while and relaxing the shoulders. You can also try the fun exercises demonstrated at Nimble Fingers (look it's multimedia!), which cover just about every part of the body. Point is, work hard, but not so hard you can't work anymore.

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To Your Health: Avoid computer and typing fatigue

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