Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS)

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) or median neuropathy at the wrist is a medical condition in which the median nerve is compressed at the wrist, leading to pain, paresthesias, and muscle weakness in the hand. (From Wikipedia)

If you are a computer professional, or a white collar who spend most of your time working on a computer, you will have a higher chance to be the victim of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Other factors such as smoking, alcohol consumption and being overweight also increase the risk of getting the syndrome.

Symptoms of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome:

1. Frequent pain in hand and wrist
2. Hands numbness and pain causing sleep interruption
3. Lose feeling in thumb and fingers
4. Neck or shoulder pain on same side as hand discomfort
5. Cold hands
6. Poor circulation of blood in hands
   
7. Loss of grip strength by fore arms
8. Weakness in hand and wrist- Pain radiating up the forearm

How to prevent Carpal Tunnel Syndrome:

1. Improve your posture when using keyboard and mouse. Keep your hand and wrist in the same level with each other. There should be no angling up or down of the hand. So the keyboard and mouse area should be fairly low, close to your lap, so that your hand is always in a relaxed position. There are also quite a number of ergonomic mouse and keyboard out there which will help to get relief from Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
2. Take frequent breaks from computer keyboard and mouse usage, especially when playing browser based games which encourage excessive finger movement. Freeware like Workrave and Xwrits will be helpful in reminding users to take a break.
3. When using mouse or keyboard, reduce your force and relax your grip. Some people will tend to use more force than needed.
4. It's more likely to develop hand pain and stiffness when working in a cold environment. So keeping your hand warm will help as well.
   

Is there a treatment for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome? Yes, a surgery will most effective treatment. And here's some picture for you to get some idea of how the surgery is done:




Ouch! Better to prevent than treatment.

Ergonomic Computing

Welcome to Ergonomic Computing. These days, almost all white collar workers (including myself) are working in front of a computer all day long. So it's important for us to gain some basic knowledge about ergonomic computing.

So what is ergonomic? Here's the definition from Wikipedia:

"Ergonomics is a science concerned with the ‘fit’ between people and their work. It takes account of the worker's capabilities and limitations in seeking to ensure that tasks, equipment, information and the environment suit each worker."

So this is all ergonomic computing about -- to provide tips on how to 'fit' yourself with the computer.

Stay tuned for more tips coming ;)