Tips for laptop users
Osteopath Kristian Wood looks at how a laptop can harm your posture
As computers filtered into the workplace in the Seventies, ergonomic guidelines quickly emerged calling for the separation of the screen and keyboard. Quite simply, it is not possible to have both the keyboard and the screen in the correct, healthy positions when they are fixed together. But this basic ergonomic rule is being violated as the laptop encroaches on working life.
For occasional users, this is not a major problem. But, for those using a laptop as their primary office computer, or even for more than an hour a day, postural problems are a serious risk.
Using a computer on your lap forces the head and neck to flex forwards and downwards. A laptop's smaller keyboard means we have to rotate the arms and shoulders inwards for long periods.
The arm muscles have to strain to support them in a tense, raised position, while the hand that operates the mouse pad, often in the middle of the keyboard, is held there by tense shoulder muscles. Using a laptop on a desk also leads to problems, because we peer down at the screen, with neck and shoulders scrunched.
The result in each case is a dangerously slumped posture. The muscles at the front of the neck contract, and, over time, they can shorten and stiffen, meaning that the head is held at an unnatural, dipped angle. The muscles supporting the neck from behind become fatigued, leading to pain in the neck and shoulder muscles. This is exacerbated by the contraction of the chest's pectoral muscles -- when typing -- as they draw the shoulders further inwards.
This posture can result in stiffness and pain in the whole upper body, and neck dysfunction, which can lead to disruption of the cervical nerves, and nerve pain in the arms. Overuse of the arm muscles can also leave us predisposed to tendonitis or repetitive strain injury.
These are only a few of the possible injuries -- but you can minimise the risks.
© Telegraph1) HEALTH & SAFETY
If your job requires that you work solely on a laptop, contact your human resources department. There are health and safety guidelines in law that should protect you.
- Kristian Wood
