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Care needed to avoid injuries, experts warn

By Kevin Voigt
For CNN

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(CNN) -- Three years ago, game design executive American McGee felt a tingling sensation in his hands during a usual 12-hour workday at his computer.

"I have a programmer friend who was so debilitated by RSI (repetitive stress injury) she can never type again," recalls the 33-year-old Dallas, Texas, native. "I thought, 'Oh no, here goes my career, here's how it starts.'"

White-collar workers worldwide such as McGee have reason to be concerned; numb hands, pinched necks and aching backs from prolonged computer use has become a serious health risk.

In the United Kingdom, Health and Safety Executive figures from 2004 showed 448,000 British workers suffer from musculo-skeletal disorders, an increase of 52,000 cases in just two years. According to the U.S. National Bureau of Labor Statistics, RSI is the cause of 34 percent of workday injuries and illness. Resulting medical costs and loss of productivity is estimated at $50 billion per year, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences reported.

"We're seeing several new categories of problems from things like the increase of workers who use multiple computer screens and a new ailment called 'Blackberry thumb'," said Alan Hedge, head of Cornell University's Human Factors and Ergonomics Research Group and an editorial adviser to HealthyComputing.com

"More companies are replacing desktop (computers) with laptops ... there are more microcomputers and handheld devices -- the risk to the body can vary and increase depending on what technology is being used."

Injuries to tendons, nerves and ligaments in the arm, wrist and hand are difficult to heal compared to injuries to muscles, which receive much more blood for quick healing, Hedge said.

"The longer you wait for treatment, the more difficult for recovery," he said.

When McGee began seeing symptoms for carpal tunnel syndrome -- a common form of RSI where scar tissue begins presses on nerves traveling through the wrists to the finger -- he quit his marathon typing sessions on the advice of doctors and began several months of physiotherapy.

Now McGee, who oversees 50 programmers at game design studios in Los Angeles and Shanghai, uses a software program that freezes his computer every hour for five-minute breaks: He keeps a yoga matt and free-weights handy for some quick stretches and exercise.

"I'm not trying to bulk up -- I just want to get the blood flowing again."

Research shows that half-hour breaks reduce neck and shoulder injury by nearly 50 percent, Hedge said. "The problem is, technology is becoming more ubiquitous and people are computing on airplanes and in hotels, which usually isn't the best ergonomic setup," he added.

Other tips:

The ideal computing position should cause minimum movement in the head, neck, arms and back. For optimum keyboard height, drop your arms to your side, then bring your hands and forearms up parallel to your thigh. "It should be a little below a 90-degree angle," Hedge said. "You should feel no tension in your upper arms and shoulders." To avoid lower back and hip pain, knees should not be higher than your thighs, he added.

For ideal screen height, extend your arm from your shoulder -- palms flat and fingers extended -- until the arm parallel to your thigh. "That should be the distance the screen is from your eyes," Hedge said.

Users of multiple screens should have the displays arranged in a semicircle at the same distance "so the eyes don't have to readjust (focus) going from screen to screen," he said. Frequent laptop users should lift the screen to height and use a full size keyboard extension rather then built-in keys. "There is a number of inexpensive, collapsible keyboards on the market that fold to pocket-size," he said. "That's what I use on all my trips."

If you use a mouse, phone or calculator frequently, make sure all are placed near the keyboard -- on the right side for right-handed people. "The problem with mouse use is when it's held away from the body," stretching underarm and back muscles, he said.

To avoid 'Blackberry Thumb' -- pain, soreness and flexibility problems caused by repeated typing on small portable devices -- write only short e-mails "rather than novel-length responses," he said. "The thumb isn't particularly flexible and was never meant to be used in this way."

The key is, like McGee, to take frequent breaks and stretch through the day. "Write 10 e-mails, then do 10 phone calls so you're programming (typing) breaks into your day," Hedge said.

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