BANGALORE: Finding it hard to move your stiff neck after a hard day's work? Or do you have shooting pain in your fingers and hands every time you touch a computer keyboard?

People with repetitive strain injury (RSI) or musculo-skeletal disorders (MSD) often lose valuable time at work and home and their quality of life is affected.

According to a study by Deepak Sharan, consultant, Bangalore Children's Hospital and an expert in RSI and paediatric orthopaedics, 75 per cent of the computer professionals suffer from this disorder.

Repetitive strain injury is a work-related disorder which affects the neck, lower limb, lower back, legs, jaws, chest and vocal chords.

But now there seems to be hope for such people. Thanks to Dr. Sharan, "Alexander Technique," which is fairly new to India, is being introduced in the city. A number of experts from the U.K. and the U.S. are coming here at regular intervals to teach this technique to those affected by RSI so that they can lead productive lives.

One such expert, who was in the city recently and worked with persons affected by RSI for a month, was Nick Mellor, an Alexander technique teacher based in Leeds, U.K.

"Alexander Technique (AT) is not a medical treatment for RSI but a set of skills for improving your performance. It essentially involves learning how to meet a stressful situation and to deal with it constructively," explained Mr. Mellor, who was an RSI patient himself.

AT helps in improving personal and professional effectiveness, mainly through better self care. One of the main principles of the technique is to teach people to exercise choice.

"Whenever we move or think, we have a choice: we can use ourselves either intelligently or carelessly. AT lessons can teach you to use yourself with intelligence promoting freedom from injury, rapid recovery and a better overall standard of health," he said.

The lessons, which are mostly one to one, train you to take care of your head, neck and back. We teach people to use their big joints, their hips, ankles, knees, head and neck joints appropriately instead of bending their spines too often," he added. He worked with around 30 persons here and 75 per cent of them started feeling a positive change after a few lessons.

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