Ergonomics deals with the design of jobs, tools, equipment, and environments to complement the abilities and limitations of the human body.  It has mainly focused on the workplace, however, school staff and students can also benefit from learning how to appropriately set up a computer workstation, the best backpack design and use, and how to adjust their posture during after school tasks.

Tips for students

-    At home and at school, adjust the computer workstation to a comfortable position

-    Take breaks every thirty minutes, move around and stretch

-    Do not overload your backpack; it should weigh up to 10 to 15% more than your weight

-    Establish a schedule to play computer games, and switch between games that allow you to use different controls so that your thumbs don’t get numb

-    If you have an after school job, avoid lifting, carrying, and working with your hands overhead, bending your back, and repeating movements

-    Ask your employer about the ergonomics principles they recommend

Tips for school staff

Teachers

-    Adjust the computer workstation to a comfortable position
-    Do not bend your back for a long time when working with the students, sit down or squat for short whiles

Custodians

-    Do not lift heavy mop buckets to pour into sinks, look for a floor drain and tip the bucket over, or get a bucket with a bottom emptier

Kitchen staff

-    Store heavy supplies on lower shelves
-    Open heavy boxes and put items away individually
-    Use carts to move pots, supplies, and other heavy objects

Librarians

-    Adjust the computer workstation to a comfortable position
-    Put books that are frequently requested on a cart near the front
-    Use the appropriate ladder or step to reach books on high shelves without straining your body

Administrators

-    Before buying furniture and equipment, determine the product’s use and research the available options to find the ones with the best ergonomic principles
-    Purchase appropriate back supports for the members of the staff who spends long hours sitting in front of a computer due to the demands of their jobs

There is no question about it; appropriate ergonomics will enhance school staff and students’ performance while at school, and even during after school activities, without mentioning the positive attitude it will bring into their work and lives due to the feeling of wellness that comes with improving ones general posture.

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Working with a computer regularly can expose you to several back and neck health risks given the fact that it requires you to spend many hours sitting in the same position and doing the same movements.

Even if you don’t believe it, computer work is very demanding.  If you think about it carefully, it is very common to slouch or lean after a short time in front of a computer, and these actions force our bodies into uncomfortable positions that put a lot of stress on our neck and spine.

Computer ergonomics can help you prevent immediate back and neck pain as well as chronic conditions related to neck and spine misalignment.  Knowing how to adjust you body while working at a computer can bring you numerous benefits, including getting rid of regular headaches, reducing back pain, eliminating shoulder pain, and improving productivity and concentration.

Here are 7 tips to make computer work serve you for a change:

1.    Move regularly
When you sit or stand in the same position for a long time you are forcing your body.  This is why one of the best things you can do in regards to computer ergonomics is to move and change positions frequently.  Move your legs; stop typing and shake your arms a little; move your shoulders up and down and back and forth; take your eyes off the screen and focus on distant objects; and take regular breaks to walk and stretch a little.

2.    Adjust the monitor
The monitor should be located so that when you look at it, your neck is in a neutral position, not bent down or up.  Your back must be reclined a little, never leaning forward to see what you’re working on.  Try to get a monitor with a movable slide, so that you can lower or raise it to find the best position.

3.    Adjust the keyboard
The keyboard should not be on your lap or on the desk.  It should be positioned below the desk on a special tray to make sure your wrists and forearms maintain a neutral position.  The keyboard must also be tilted away from you in order to prevent carpal tunnel syndrome.

4.    Find the right mouse
Start by placing your elbows close to your body and hands on the desk with the forearms extended naturally.  Move your hands over the space without separating your elbows from your body; this is your neutral reach zone, and it is the space in which the mouse should be used.  You should avoid reaching out of this area with it.  The mouse must be next to the keyboard on the tray, and there should be room to change sides in case you start feeling numbness or pain.  There are symmetrical mouses that you can use with both hands.

5.    Find a clear place for your workstation
Each task you perform requires different lighting and the amount of light each individual requires is a very personal matter; however, as a general rule, your workstation should be moderately bright.  You should make sure there is no glare on the monitor and that there is not too much light

6.    Locate everything within easy reach
You shouldn’t reach out to grab things on your desk because this action forces your body into extreme postures that can cause an injury.  Everything should be organized so as to be reached easily while you are sitting in front of your computer.

7.    Get an ergonomic office chair or proper back support
Purchase the best chair and back support you can afford.  Select one that suits your body, your workspace, and the activities you do, and then adjust it appropriately so that you sit at a slightly reclined angle.

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As you get older, muscles tighten and the joints’ range of motion decreases, affecting your lifestyle even to the point of preventing you from performing your daily activities and normal movements.  It is possible that what used to be very easy to do becomes a real challenge after a certain age.

There are numerous ways to achieve a better quality of life as you age; some of them are:

-    Increase your flexibility and range of motion
-    Strengthen weak muscles
-    Perform special exercises designed to improve bad posture

All of the above can be enhanced with regular stretching routines.  Stretching will help you lengthen muscles and tendons, which allows you to have a better range of motion, which means your extremities and joints are able to move further before an injury happens.  It doesn’t matter how old you are, stretching will improve your daily life by making every activity easier to handle.

There is no excuse here; everyone can learn to stretch appropriately, despite age, gender, or level of flexibility.  To do it right, stretch until you feel the muscle is pulling a little, without feeling any pain.  Hold the stretch for several seconds and the muscle will relax.  As you start feeling less rigidity in the muscles and joints, increase the stretch range until you feel the soft pulling again.  Hold it until you feel the tightness is gone, but never, ever, bounce while you stretch; you can cause serious muscle damage.

Younger people can stretch to prevent injuries; it helps muscles and joints recover faster and decreases soreness after rigorous exercise.  Stretching will ensure muscles and tendons are in good working condition so that they can handle severe sports and exercise effectively.  The more one stretches the less danger one has of getting serious muscle and tendon injuries.

Once you get into a regular stretching routine, you will experience lots of benefits; among the most important are:

-    Less muscle rigidity
-    More energy, due to better circulation
-    Injury prevention
-    Better movement range in joints
-    Better muscular coordination
-    Better blood circulation throughout the body

In order to stretch appropriately and get the best out of the routine, have a professional design one for you, based on his or her knowledge of the body and its functioning, and, of course, on your specific needs.

If you are not crazy about exercising or stretching, look for ways to improve your posture, since it has a direct influence in your general wellbeing.  Look for appropriate seat support to help you learn good sitting and standing posture habits.  When you sit and stand correctly, your muscles and joints rest, they are not stressed and overworked, and you achieve a normal stretching of your muscles, tendons, and internal organs, enhancing circulation and the passing of air through the body.

However, try stretching.  It is a great way to relax and to keep your body mechanics balanced.  If for anything, try it because it will certainly make you feel great.

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TMJ means temporomandibular joint.  It is a ball and socket joint at each side of the head.  TMJ health problems are common and very difficult to treat; if you have suffered them, you know what we mean.  These problems happen when the joint is under stress; common causes are dental work, a blow to the jaw, osteoarthritis, or trauma from car accidents, however, there is a reason for muscular stress that is often overlooked as a cause for TMJ: poor body alignment.

Something that may look as simple and unimportant as uneven and rounded shoulders may be causing you excruciating pain.  When one shoulder is lower than the other, this causes a constant downward pull on one side of the jaw and ear, causing neck, jaw, and ear pain, tinnitus, and even vertigo.  If your shoulders round inward, this will cause a forward pull on both sides of the neck.

Physical therapy and yoga can help you even your shoulders and pull them back, eventually getting rid of TMJ pain.  However, if you stop your yoga and therapy routines, while at the same time spend too much time at the computer, for example, the discomfort will return, thus, it is necessary to be very disciplined and encourage prevention through conscious practices.

To see if poor posture could be causing your TMJ pain, take a look in the mirror.  Stand up straight and face a full-length mirror, look at your shoulders and examine if they are even.  Feel the muscles on each side of your neck to see if they are the same, if not, you will feel a side more stretched out and weaker.  Also check if your head is even over your shoulders from side to side, or if it is tilted to one side.

Return your hands to the sides of your body and look at them in the mirror.  If your muscles are well balanced, your hands will hang straight at your side, with the thumbs facing forward, otherwise, you will see your palms flat against your thighs and the back of your hands will face forward.  This means your shoulders are rounded, and it can cause muscle tension in your jaw because your chest muscles are tight and pulling the shoulders in, and your back muscles are weak and stretched out, causing a forward pull on the jaw.

Finally, turn to one side and check your posture.  Your arm should hang freely at your side, and the back of your hand should be flat against your thigh.  Your head should be even on top of your spine, not tilted forward or backwards.  Your shoulder should be exactly below your ear.

The musculoskeletal alignment of the body is primordial for its general health, given the fact that it encompasses the whole body structure.  If misaligned, the person will not only suffer from pain which is directly related to muscles and bones, but also from sickness produced by the crushing of organs and lack of air resulting from a bad posture.  It could mean a complete body failure, capable of ruining your life.

This is a huge risk that can be easily avoided.  Now you know how important good posture is for your health, so you can take the necessary measures to correct it.  There are physical therapies, alternative therapies, posture training, posture and back support, and massages, among others.  However, if you are suffering from TMJ or any other physical problem, the first thing you should do is see your doctor for professional advice; only then, can you implement any kind of therapy or change in your life safely and effectively.

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It is normal for expecting moms to experience back pain.  When you are pregnant, you gain lots of weight fast, your way of walking changes, and your hormones relax the ligaments and joints in your body.

However normal, it is not exciting to think about bearing back pain in addition to the dreaded morning sickness, constipation, rashes, hormonal changes, and even lifestyle changes that accompany pregnancy.  Back pain in pregnant women can last up to three months after the delivery, and it is located mainly on hip joints, lower back, mid-back, neck, shoulders, and jaw joint.

You don’t have to endure the pain as one of the ‘sacrifices’ of pregnancy.  It is not hard at all to treat and even prevent back pain when you are pregnant; it just takes some self-care treatments and complementary therapies.

The human body has a powerful balance system that adapts in order to keep us straight under many different conditions.  This system has two parts:

-    The sensory part, which asks, “Where am I?”
-    The motor part, which asks, “What am I going to do?”

Nevertheless, any adaptation has its inconveniences.  When a woman’s weight increases around 25 pounds, her center of gravity and mass move forward.  Right then, the balance system starts working to realign, slowly but steadily, the pelvis and spine to counter balance the extra weight.  With time, the center of gravity will move back.

The spinal changes that occur are very foreseeable.  The pelvis leans forward, the mid-back glides backwards, and the head and neck move in front of the shoulders.  The spine has a natural ‘S’ shape curve caused by the joining of muscles and ligaments.  If this curve changes, several muscles will stretch and others will shorten, causing the spine to be unstable, which in turn causes chronic tension in some muscle groups and extra strain on joints.  If a muscle maintains a stretched position for far too long, eventually its fibers will elongate and weaken, the same as if a muscle is over-relaxed for extended periods of time, which shortens its fibers.

Another element of the pregnancy back pain equation is shear forces.  A person with normal posture experiences downward gravitational and directional shear forces that work with the body to secure the joints into position under load, giving strength and stability to the spine.  Pregnant women experience the same gravitational forces but the shear forces change direction to open the lower back joints, giving less stability to the spine.  The body feels this, and the lower back muscles tighten to offer support.

During pregnancy, it is very clear which muscles weaken due to stretch and which due to shortening, making it easy for a professional to design an exercise program to strengthen those muscles.  Also, appropriate back supports can help alleviate the pain while sitting down.

This is an unavoidable but manageable situation for pregnant women; it just requires the right effort to improve posture given the extra weight that will be endured, and the right preventive measures.

If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention www.trucomfort.com as the original source).

Are you one of the millions of people who suffer from back pain and swallow an aspirin praying it just lets you get up and do what you have to do during the day without feeling like you’re going to start crying soon?

Are you so tired of taking pills that offer only a temporary solution that you just decided to live with the pain?

Are you so used to living in pain that you have just accepted it as a part of your life?

Read this carefully:  You do not have to endure pain of any kind.  Chronic pain is not a way of living; it can be alleviated and removed from your life for good!

If you have reached this stage, it is time for you to try acupuncture.

Although you may think that letting someone stick needles into you is kind of a contradiction when talking about getting rid of pain, it actually does offer relief and thousands, if not millions, of people have tried it successfully.

Acupuncture comes from an ancient Chinese tradition that believes that the energy, Qi, moves throughout the body along pathways called meridians.  When a person’s energy is blocked, it causes him or her pain and disease.  Thus, through acupuncture the doctor stimulates specific points in the meridians to restore the flow of energy.

Western medicine has tried, without luck, to locate this energy with the latest and most advanced equipment, however, extensive research shows acupuncture is truly very effective in alleviating chronic pain like osteoarthritis, lower back pain, menstrual cramps, and migraines.  It seems that the needles, when inserted in very specific points, stimulate the nerves and release the body’s endorphins and opioids, alleviating pain. This practice also dilates blood vessels, improving blood circulation.

So, even though traditional medicine hasn’t been able to understand how acupuncture works in the body, centuries of proof, in the form of trusting and alleviated people, have made western doctors give this natural medicine option the benefit of the doubt.  In the United States alone, the number of licensed acupuncturists goes over 6,500, and the FDA regulates acupuncture needles as medical instruments.  In addition, the treatment through this alternative method is being covered today by many health insurance policies when applied to certain states and illnesses.

Let’s be clear.  Acupuncture can’t repair a damaged spinal disk or joint that has been affected by arthritis, nevertheless, it can reduce the swelling and inflammation that causes nerve compression.

If you want to give acupuncture a try, consult with a physician first and ask for a referral.  It is indispensable that you find a serious doctor with reliable knowledge on this mysterious practice.  And always remember that the best remedy for pain is prevention, thus beware of posture and get a good back support system, reduce stress as much as possible, simplify your life, take time for yourself and your family, eat healthy foods, get a good night’s sleep every day, and prefer a healthy lifestyle in general.  In this way, you will never know the meaning of living in pain.

If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention www.trucomfort.com as the original source).