You would think it would be a totally safe career. to sit and work on a computer all day. No lifting, no machinery, look after your eyes and do some exercise regularly and things would be OK. But in the last 10 days, I have suffered an injury directly related to constant use of a laptop and never knew the risks.
In its simplest from it is a trapped nerve or to you Americans out there a pinched nerve. It affects my right arm, from the wrist up through the forearm, but until I did some research would not have guessed, the damage is actually in my spine, that affects the nerves going down my arm. The fact is, I have tried to continue working, but only by converting to left hand mouse operation, have I been able to continue any work at all at a snail’s pace. The pain includes pins and needles or tingly feeling in the fingers and has probably been caused by constant bending over to access laptop (not a correct seat), together with a constant patting to the touch pad on the laptop.
What is more worrying, is that it could be Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, which has similar symptoms and is caused by regular movement, such as typing, tennis etc. Often this requires surgery, which is a no-no for me, who never goes to the dentist until I’m in agony. There is one difference in that Carpal Tunnel syndrome, normally has the symptom of a numb thumb, but in this case, it is a tingling feeling through the fingers except the thumb. But what is common though, is that it does get worse at night and affects sleep.
I don’t (try) to write this for some sort of sympathy, but to warn other computer users typing away through the night like I do, to check their posture and working space and have rests. If it does happen to you, this is when you find how limited the work is you can do. I have clients waiting for documents and content I can’t write, blogs that need updating and scripts for my regular video updates and just not getting done.
Be careful out there!!
