ICT Suporting Organisations 9: Health Problems

The use of computers has long been blamed for a variety of problems. In this document we will identify and look at several of these.

One of the major complaints of people who work with computers is “I have RSI”. This is a condition known as Repetitive Strain Injury and is caused when someone uses a tool (it does not just have to be a computer) too much. So, for example, an Educational Administrator may use a computer to enroll new students. At busy times this may be the only work that this person does. The repetitive motions involved means that the muscles in the arms and hands are kept tense for a long time. This causes pain – and here are some of the pains to watch out for if you fear you have RSI:

• Sore neck, back shoulders, hands or wrists
• A tingling sensation, and possibly the affected area can be numb or cold
• You may experience a weakening of your grip
• Uncomfortable sleep. A lot of RSI sufferers think, when in bed, that they are lying on their arms and that their circulation has been cut off.

It is also important to know that sometimes the area that is experiencing pain may NOT be the area that has been damaged. For example, the hand may be numb but this is often caused by a pinched nerve at the shoulder area.

One way of reducing the risk of RSI is to adopt good ergonomics. As we have previously seen ergonomics can reduce the likelihood of damage to the body in the office work space.

Reducing technostress is often key. Series of studies have shown that RSI can be connected to social factors. Workers who are stressed out are at double the risk of reporting pain. Other factors such as poor relationships with colleagues, being asked to do too much work and just being plain bored and dissatisfied are also factors in making RSI worse than it actually is. Many doctors believe that technostress is in fact the main cause of the pain symptoms that people usually associate with RSI.

Another condition that can come about because of overuse of ICT is CTS or Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. This is where an important nerve, the median nerve, is squashed in the wrist area – and this is painful! Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is more common in women than in men and it can happen to you at any age. However, research has shown that if you are around 42 years of age you are most at risk!

Treatments for this can vary – quite often your wrist will be put in to a brace so that it cannot be moved while the nerve heals. However, prevention is much better than cure and following an ergonomic system will drastically reduce the chance of CTS. As with RSI, the pain of CTS is often double if the person is suffering from technostress at the same time!

Both of these medical conditions can be described as new because they were only discovered in the last one hundred years or so. This coincides with the sharp increase in the amount of office workers and their use, first of all typewriters, and today of computers. Hardly a coincidence?