So you finish college and are lucky to land a job in a call center. In no time you are spending hours working on your computer, tied to your desk. Soon you start to notice stiffness and slight pain in one side of your neck, then your upper back/shoulder blade area starts to ache and finally you have tingling pain down your arm!

You say to yourself: ‘I am a young guy, how can I have these aches and pains?’ But, what you are experiencing is not unique or unusual. It’s called the Mouse Neck/ Shoulder and is also known as the Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI).

Repetitive Strain Injury or repetitive motion injury is mostly a work-related musculoskeletal disorder. It can affect muscles, tendons, joints and nerves. Generally, RSI is caused by improperly-designed workstations, incorrect posture and inadequate fitness.

Repetitive injury results in repeated tissue micro-trauma, which disrupts the normal repair process, leading to reduced blood supply, reduced activity of nerves, muscle fiber loss and even cell death. Some individuals with RSI have severe pain, others just lose strength and fine muscle control.

How a niggle becomes a literal pain in the neck!

Hours of sitting and working on badly-designed workstations, then spending leisure time peering at a mobile screen and finally sleeping on a misshapen pillow often results in a stiff neck and/or a mild headache. If ignored, this can get worse and disrupt everyday activities. Soon you will be popping painkillers to get through the day, but the pain will seem to only get worse over time.

Finding the cause

Look at your workstation. Is the computer screen at eye-level? Is your wrist bent backwards while using the mouse? Does your desk make you shrug your shoulders up? While typing, do your elbows hang free? If your answer is yes to these questions, then it’s time to make changes to your workstation.

(Ensure that your computer screen should be at eye level (Illustration : Sunil Kumar Mallik ))

Here’s a workstation checklist to keep RSI at bay:

1.The computer screen should be at eye-level.

2.Your wrist should be straight.

3.Your shoulders should not be shrugged up while sitting.

4.And finally, the chair should support the elbows.

The cure: stretch and strengthen

1.Stretch your neck by touching your chin to the chest and then look straight up at the ceiling. Turn your head left and then right. Do these stretches 10 times each.

2.Get up from your desk every half an hour, walk a few steps.

3.Strengthen your neck by pushing it backwards towards your chin with your fingers in such a way as to form a double chin. Hold this position for 10 seconds. Do this three to four times in a day.

(Chin tuck exercises also helps relieve pain (Illustration : Sunil Kumar Mallik ))

 

Author bio: Kamal Singh CSCS is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist with a coaching experience of 15 years. He specialises in post rehabilitation training and has worked with some of the biggest names in the corporate and sports world. Kamal was picked by Men’s Health magazine as one of India’s Top personal trainers.

courtesy : hindustantimes.com



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Bengaluru, Apr 19: The Congress in Karnataka on Friday launched a sarcasm-laced campaign alleging that the Modi government’s gift to Karnataka was ‘Chombu’ – Kannada for a round water pot.

The term ‘Chombu’ in Kannada, which is known as ‘Lota’ in Hindi, symbolises deception and emptiness.

The full-page jacket advertisement with the picture of a steel-made round water pot in Kannada reads "Modi Sarkar’s gift to Karnataka – Chombu!”

Congress alleged the people of Karnataka got 'Chombu' in lieu of the promises of depositing Rs 15 lakh into everyone’s account, doubling farmers’ income, tax devolution, and drought and flood relief to the state.

“The contribution of 27 BJP and JD(S) MPs to the state is ‘Chombu’. Let’s give ‘Chombu’ to the BJP in this election,” the Congress said, in an appeal to the voters of the state.

ALSO READ: Dingaleshwar Swami has assets worth Rs 9.74 crore

Reacting to it, the Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka assembly R Ashoka alleged the Congress, which is unable to give even a ‘Chombu’ of water to the people of Bengaluru this summer, is misleading people with its advertisement.

BJP state president B Y Vijayendra said the Congress government drained the full bowl of Cauvery river to Tamil Nadu and gave an empty ‘Chombu’ to the Kannadigas.

Farmers got a ‘Chombu’ after their crops dried up due to drought and the downtrodden communities got ‘Chombu’ when the funds earmarked for the welfare of scheduled caste and scheduled tribes was diverted, Vijayendra said in a post on X.

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