Fit and fine: Why are young people complaining of nagging pains and aches today...
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.
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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Bank unions firm on March 24-25 strike as talks with IBA fail
Kolkata, Mar 14 (PTI): The United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) on Thursday said its two-day nationwide strike on March 24 and 25 will be observed as scheduled since discussions with the Indian Banks' Association (IBA) over key demands failed to yield any positive outcome.
In a meeting with the IBA, all UFBU constituents raised issues, including recruitment in all cadres and a five-day workweek. Still, the key issues remained unresolved, National Confederation of Bank Employees (NCBE) General Secretary L Chandrasekhar said.
The UFBU, an umbrella body of nine bank employees' associations, earlier announced the strike to press for these demands which included filling up the workmen and officer director posts in public sector banks.
The unions have also sought the withdrawal of recent directives from the Department of Financial Services (DFS) regarding performance reviews and performance-linked incentives, alleging that such measures threaten job security and create employees.
The UFBU has further opposed what it calls "micro-management" of public sector banks by the DFS, arguing that such interventions undermine the autonomy of bank boards.
Other demands include resolving residual issues with the IBA and amending the Gratuity Act to raise the ceiling to Rs 25 lakh, aligning it with the scheme for government employees and seeking exemption from income tax.
The UFBU comprises major bank unions, including the All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA), All India Bank Officers’ Confederation (AIBOC), National Confederation of Bank Employees (NCBE), and All India Bank Officers’ Association (AIBOA).
