Can you develop physical injuries sitting on your rump all day working on
your computer?  Absolutely!  The injuries can be so severe that one may
not be able to feed or dress themself.  Fortunately, this can be prevented
by using a number of strategies, including taking regular breaks and
having proper wrist and back support.  The article below describes what
can happen if these preventive measures are not taken.

kelly





USA today
2/8/2001


   Young tech workers face crippling injuries

   By Stephanie Armour, USA TODAY

   Jeff Carlson had no idea his career was crippling him. It wasn't until
   about 8 months ago, after a stretch of 60-hour workweeks, that the
   pain in his arms began. The computer programmer soothed it with ice
   and Advil. But the pain spread, intensified. Soon, he says it hurt too
   much to brush his teeth, to mow the lawn, to tie his shoes. When
   Carlson, 39, read his daughters a Dr. Seuss tale, they had to turn the
   pages because he couldn't hold the book. "I couldn't even run, because
   I couldn't hold my arms up. I may have to change jobs. Right now, I
   just hope I can get my life back," says Carlson, of Beaverton, Ore.,
   who says he's being treated for tendinitis, carpal tunnel syndrome and
   other cumulative trauma disorders. He uses voice-recognition software
   to type.

   "When people at work saw me wearing ice packs, I was surprised at how
   many others had had problems like this. They would tell me their
   stories. I was amazed."

   The very technology that is powering the Information Age is also
   leaving many of its workers with a painful malady: repetitive motion
   injuries. Ergonomic injuries are afflicting technology workers as
   young as 20 to 30 years old, many of whom have been using computers
   since childhood. Some problems are severe enough to end careers that
   have barely begun.

   Blame the problem on the long workweeks typical among those in
   high-tech, an infatuation with technology so strong that workers often
   spend their free time online, and a lack of attention by many
   start-ups to ergonomic issues and training.

   It's a health issue getting more attention as the industry grows.
   Internet-related employment in first-quarter 2000 jumped 10% compared
   with the first quarter of 1999, according to a study by University of
   Texas researchers for Cisco Systems. That growth spurt is faster than
   for any other group of workers.

   "Most people in the technology sector are young and think they're
   immune from problems. But they're working 50 or 60 hours, and only now
   are they starting to become aware of the problem," says Brett Weiss,
   CEO of Remedy Interactive, an ergonomic consulting firm in Mill
   Valley, Calif. "We see it on a daily basis. I've seen computer
   engineers who can't go back to computers, people who have had to
   change their careers entirely."

   Silicon Valley syndrome

   As concerns mount, high-tech firms such as Intel are joining in
   monthly ergonomic round tables to discuss the problem. Medical experts
   have taken to calling some repetitive-motion injuries "Silicon Valley
   syndrome" or "programmer's elbow," and injured workers are forming
   support groups or creating their own software programs to reduce
   ergonomic ailments.

   To be sure, some researchers believe medical science hasn't proved
   that workplace tasks trigger ergonomic injuries, and others point out
   that repetitive-motion injuries are more prevalent in occupations such
   as manufacturing and nursing. Critics say repetitive-motion ailments
   may be psychological or caused by factors outside the job.

   "When companies go out and implement ergonomic programs, they get
   people thinking (an injury) is work related when it's not," says Mark
   Hansen, with the American Society of Safety Engineers. "Some of these
   injuries can be debilitating, but in society, you're going to have
   some hypochondriacs, too. There is a psychological component
   sometimes."

   But other health and safety experts say ergonomic ailments in the tech
   industry are a troubling sign. They say the ailments show that younger
   workers who have grown up using computers are increasingly vulnerable
   to injuries. They say today's technology-driven and fast-paced
   workplaces are driving many of these disorders.

   A recent report by the National Research Council and the Institute of
   Medicine shows that working in a highly demanding and stressful
   environment is associated with upper-body disorders.

   Musculoskeletal disorders cause about 1 million employees to miss work
   each year and cost the nation $45 billion to $54 billion annually in
   compensation costs, lost wages and decreased productivity, according
   to the report. The surge in technology workers has been so recent that
   scant research exists on the frequency or severity of ergonomic
   injuries affecting employees in the industry.

   "There is this population in their 30s showing up as ergonomic
   casualties," says Louis Freund, director of the Silicon Valley
   Ergonomics Institute, an interdisciplinary center at San Jose State
   University in California. "The incidence of injury is enhanced by the
   extra hours on the job."

   Long hours, high stress

   Many tech workers reporting repetitive-motion injuries have often
   worked long hours, sometimes 60- or 70-hour weeks, in a competitive
   environment where the goal is to get products to market fast. They
   often took few breaks and worked on computers even while at home. And
   they say they often had no idea that the initial symptoms, such as
   numbness in the fingers or sore wrists, could become so debilitating.

   As a software engineer, Ron Goodman says, it was 1998 when he first
   began experiencing pain while typing. He thought it would go away, but
   the symptoms worsened. Now the 34-year-old types only three hours a
   day and is thinking about leaving the industry altogether. If he is on
   a keyboard too long, he says his arms can shake so badly, it's hard
   later to pick up a cup and drink from it.

   "My doctors say the best thing I can do is to get out of this field,"
   says Goodman, in Scotts Valley, Calif. He is now undergoing physical
   therapy.

   "My company's been very supportive, but I have my eye on leaving the
   industry. I have to accept that I had a few young years in high tech.
   But I'm worried. If I have to go out in the job market right now, I'd
   have a hard time getting a job if I said, 'I can only work three hours
   a day.' "

   Tech workers can be affected by a variety of upper-body injuries.
   Goodman says he was diagnosed with a type of tenosynovitis, when the
   tendons and the covering of the tendons become inflamed.

   Carpal tunnel syndrome refers to pressure on the median nerve running
   into the wrist. Tennis elbow, also known as lateral epicondylitis, is
   tendon degeneration that can result from overuse.

   Lack of ergonomic knowledge

   Part of the reason these and other ailments are occurring, experts
   say, is a lack of education about ergonomic issues. In high-tech
   start-ups, efforts to hold down costs have often led to makeshift
   accommodations. Businesses have been hatched in offices that are
   garages or old warehouses. Doors have been converted to desks, and
   employees have shared garage-sale chairs or sat on milk crates. Few
   dot-coms have had the budget to hire ergonomic experts or consultants.

   At the same time, programmers, engineers, Web designers and technical
   writers often spend hours typing or entering code. Without breaks and
   training, experts say, repetitive strains can be the result.

   "These people are computer gurus, so what do they do after work? They
   go home and spend 3 more hours on the computer," says Susan Flynn, an
   ergonomic consultant in Encino, Calif. "They develop pain, but by the
   time they report it, it's gone too far. A lot of cases are becoming
   chronic."

   The issue is galvanizing some high-tech employers, who are rolling out
   first-of-a-kind programs they hope will prevent repetitive-motion
   injuries or keep them from getting worse. At Hewlett-Packard, every
   employee who works on a computer more than 2 hours a day is required
   to take a computer-based training session every 3 years. The training
   provides basic office ergonomics knowledge on reducing personal risks.

   At Intel, the most common types of workplace injuries are
   musculoskeletal disorders. That's one reason the company has stepped
   up efforts to prevent and treat repetitive-motion injuries. When
   employees change offices, Intel will tear down and rebuild their
   workstations if needed so that they are ergonomically customized.
   They've created an ergonomics-profile database for their Santa Clara,
   Calif., facility which includes information on workers' heights,
   preferred chairs, mouse arrangements, ideal desk heights and whether
   employees are left- or right-handed. A companywide database is under
   development.

   "It used to be we'd move them into their new office and wait for them
   to complain. No longer," says Earnest Ray, an ergonomics expert with
   the company. "The high-tech industry is very engineering intensive,
   and that's all computer work, and it's very competitive, so there are
   long hours and stress involved. Designers use the mouse extensively,
   so we're starting to see issues with wrist and elbow and shoulder
   pain."

   Preventive steps

   Part of the challenge is convincing employees to take preventive
   steps. While Intel will provide employees with software that prods
   them to take breaks, few workers have used the program.

   In some cases, having an ergonomics injury is almost a badge of pride
   among tech workers.

   "In the high-tech industry, when you tell someone you have a
   (repetitive-strain injury), they know you're a hard worker. It
   validates that," says David Marutiak, a business development manager
   at Microsoft, adding that he's been diagnosed with tendinitis and
   carpal tunnel syndrome. He's had surgery, but says it was ineffective.
   "It's pervasive. At one start-up I was at, half of our vice presidents
   had problems, and they were just sending e-mail."

   Many of those with repetitive-motion injuries are finding ways to stay
   in their careers. Some go daily to physical therapy; others have
   turned to acupuncture and shortened workweeks. Marutiak, who developed
   his problems in 1992, has continued to work, getting hired by a
   start-up and later by Microsoft, a company known for existing on
   e-mail communication. While he's had to limit his typing, Marutiak has
   learned to work with speech-recognition software and is now writing a
   book on wireless service architecture.

   "It is debilitating. There are times you end up getting in a funk, and
   it's frustrating. That's part of it. You're almost in tears at times
   and thinking your career's at an end, but you can get work done," says
   Marutiak, 46, in Redmond, Wash. "You have to work harder and longer,
   but you can get it done."

   But some have had to quit. Michael Margherita, 34, is a former
   technical writer in Manhattan Beach, Calif. Around May 1999, he says,
   he began experiencing sore wrists and neck pain. He continued working,
   he says, while undergoing physical therapy and taking painkillers. But
   the problems worsened, he says, becoming so severe it was difficult to
   hold a pencil.

   Margherita says he is now out of work on disability, diagnosed with
   ailments that include carpal tunnel syndrome and thoracic outlet
   syndrome, caused by the binding or compression of nerves and blood
   vessels. His parents take turns staying with him to provide care.
   Instead of making $1,250 a week, he says, he now gets $980 every two
   weeks on disability. His mother shaves him, he says, prepares meals
   and helps him to brush his teeth.

   "This is the other side of technology," Margherita says. "Take a look
   at all these injured workers. There's a downside to all this
   technology, and it's me."


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