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TERMINAL ILLNESS
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MSD just doesn't cripple your arm, it can kill careers too, reports BHUMIKA K.
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Nearly 55 per cent of professionals developed symptoms of MSD within a year of starting computer-dependent careers. —Photo: R.Ragu
PRAVEEN SHASTRY (name changed), a 25-year-old software engineer slogged at his computer for 14 to 15 hours a day at a reputed IT firm in Bangalore. Starting his career at the age of 21, Praveen had been through such long days without taking many breaks in the day. He started developing a pain in his wrist, that slowly spread to his elbows, shoulders, neck, knees and all the way down to his ankles. "I neglected the pain. I started developing knots in my muscles from my neck all the way to my legs," he says.
Praveen is archetypal of a large chunk of the population suffering from Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, one of the most common of computer use0related musculo-skeletal disorder (MSD) in our computer-ubiquitous age. He went from one orthopaedic to another after the pain become severe in November 2002. They guesstimated that he had carpel tunnel syndrome; some thought it was bone tuberculosis! He was put through medicines, physiotherapy and wax baths. Finally in September 2003, he started specific rehabilitation treatment, after which he says: "I'm almost normal. But this problem can be very debilitating."
Many who reason out their pain and refuse to seek help land up almost incapable of going through the day's activities like combing hair, holding up the newspaper to read, holding a teacup or buttoning the shirts, sending SMSs.
MSD, also popularly called repetitive strain injury (RSI) syndrome, seems to have hit nearly 75 per cent of 2,000 computer professionals under observation in Bangalore over the last three years. That's about the same time the word "ergonomics" became all the rage.
These 2,000 individuals have been part of an ongoing study by Deepak Sharan, a consultant in orthopaedics and rehabilitation, who hopes to complete the study on a sample of 10,000 people affected by MSD by this year-end.
"RSI is showing no sign of decline, despite an improvement in ergonomic conditions in offices," says Dr. Sharan. "And the reason is that there are no Indian standards for ergonomics. So we tend to follow the European or American standard. The standard 2.5-foot tables may be fine by European standards. But Indian users are an average of 5.5 feet tall, making the monitor table too high. Lack of trays for keyboards and mouse and to the problem." But despite the worry to be "ergonomically correct" nearly 95 per cent of IT companies make the mistake of providing L-shaped corner tables, says Dr. Sharan.
While good ergonomics doesn't heal MSD, it could prevent it. The median age of computer professionals affected by this disorder is around 27 years. Moreover, nearly 55 per cent of these professionals developed symptoms of MSD within one year of starting computer-dependent careers! These are quite alarming statistics, considering the large workforce in Bangalore alone in IT companies and call centres — two streams of work where continuous use of the computer is required. And also considering that India has over 23 million computer users who must be using their systems for at least two hours everyday.
The mistake most people make in case of pain is that they don't report it early enough, claiming they don't have time to see a doctor. Or they think it's not serious enough and believe that it will go away.
MSD seems to set in without discriminating between employee or CEO or the number of hours one is on the system, observes Dr. Sharan. "Many of my patients are CEOs," he says.
Take the case of Utsav Baijal. A 27-year-old management consultant always on the move, this New Delhi-based executive had to suddenly return to India on leave when he was working on a project in Amsterdam. "I had a normal backache while working on the project. Then I had a burning sensation and pain in my fingers and forearms and a severe pain all the way to the shoulder," says Baijal. After three to four days of such severe pain, he could not work at all. Baijal initially went to orthopaedics, neurologists, tried acupuncture, and naturopathy, and sought out yoga teachers. "Some called it stress some called it cervical spondylitis. But no one able to diagnose it as a computer related injury," says Baijal who was in Bangalore at Dr.Sharan's clinic. He's been on leave for three months now. Baijal's is a case of injury caused by laptop use. "Ergonomics is out of control when you are using the laptop at a hotel, in-flight or in a client's office," says Baijal, who does nearly 100 flights a year.
Baijal was lucky. He started treatment in an early stage. Dr. Sharan knows of at least 15 people in the age group of 25 to 35 years who had to give up their jobs because they couldn't continue working with the pain. There are three stages to MSD — In the first stage recovery takes a few days or weeks, stage two means recovery in months. And stage three could sometimes take two years to heal. Treatment is specific physiotherapy without surgery or medication.
For details check out www.deepaksharan.com.
A little care will go a long way
Adopt the right posture and you'll be spared of much future agony.
1) Use a good chair with a dynamic back support, and sit back.
2) Top of monitor casing should be 5 to 8 cm)above eye level.
3) Use an optical anti-glare glass filter where needed.
4) Sit at arm's length from monitor.
5) Feet on floor or stable footrest.
6) Use a document holder, preferably in line with the computer screen.
7) Wrists flat and straight in relation to forearms to use keyboard/mouse/input device.
8) Arms and elbows relaxed close to body centre monitor and keyboard in front of you, use a negative tilt keyboard tray with an upper mouse platform or downward tiltable platform adjacent to keyboard.
9) Use a stable work surface.
10) Stable (no bounce) keyboard tray.
11) Take frequent short breaks.
These are the symptoms of musculo-skeletal disorder:
Persistent discomfort, fatigue, or pain that appears suddenly or gradually specially in the neck, upper limbs, upper and lower back, jaws, eyes, and legs.
Occasional "catching" (pinching sensation) or "snapping" associated with movement.
Loss of grip strength (muscle weakness) and heaviness or clumsiness of hand.
Burning, numbness, tingling, pins-and-needles sensation.
A constant need to stretch or massage one's arms.
Slow accumulation of injury with a gradual development in difficulty in day-to-day activities such as shaking hands, opening doors, holding newspapers, using a comb, or any activity that requires lifting hands over shoulder level.
Common postures that cause trouble: resting elbows and wrists on workstation table (leads to inflammation of tendons), hunching or lifting the shoulders (leads to tightening of muscles and nerve and blood vessel compression).
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